History Recap / AngelS01E01CityOf

** Doyle telling Angel the world needs them to show that there's still love and compassion then tells off a homeless woman.

* ScaryMinoritySuspect: All part of the service arranged by Wolfram & Hart. Lindsey tells Russell that a black male has been identified as fleeing the scene of his latest murder.

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

* EvilRedhead[=/=]TheMole: Cordelia's "friend," Margo, acts as a go-between for Russell and his new playmates.

* 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.

'''Russell:''' What? NoI'mnot. [looks around in shock that she figured it out]

* BigFancyHouse: Russell's Casa de Vampire.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: Presumably, Angel has gotten some programs from Willow that let him hack the coroner's database and stuff, but it's pretty hilarious to watch him searching the internet using a knock-off webcrawler on netscape.

** 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 TooBleakStoppedCaring. You can see Boreanaz about to taste the blood, but it fades out just in time.

* MustBeInvited: 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.

** A similar scene occurs in a flashback in Season Four, when Angel succumbs to temptation and drinks from a murder victim in 1978 ([[Recap/AngelS04E15Orpheus "Orpheus"]]). The guilt causes Angel to revert to the pathetic state he is in when Whistler encounters him eating rats in 1996 (''Buffy'', [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E22BecomingPart2 "Becoming Pt. 2"]]).

[[caption-width-right:315:[-[[TheChosenZero Our hero]], ladies and gentlemen-].]]

** 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.

* {{Novelisation}}: This was the only episode directly novelized, unlike the many collections of ''Buffy'' episode novelizations. However, the novel contains several scenes not in the episode, including flashbacks of Angel's backstory that were similar to later flashbacks in "[[Recap/AngelS01E15 The Prodigal]]" and "[[Recap/AngelS02E07Darla Darla]]". Apparently, Angel's human name, Liam, had not been established when it was written, as he is referred to as "Master Angelus" during the flashbacks.

* ExpositionVictim: Cordelia realises too late she needs to stop talking about vampires and start running.

* NotWhatItLooksLike

* {{Pilot}}

* 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 Creator/DavidBoreanaz was discovered while walking his dog.

Having left Sunnydale and his [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer 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.

* ProperlyParanoid: Tina has ample reason to be jittery.
* PsychicPowers: Doyle

'''Doyle:''' ''[laughs]'' Have you looked into a mirror lately? ''[hesitates]'' [[RhetoricalQuestionBackfire No, I guess you really haven’t, no.]]

'''Doyle:''' ''[laughs]'' Have you looked into a mirror lately? ''[hesitates]'' No, I guess you really haven’t, no.