Welcome to Rewatching Angel, the part of the blog where I rewatch the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off: Angel. Each Tuesday evening, you’re invited to join me as I attempt to rediscover what made me love these shows so many years ago.

Eternity

• Angel and Wesley are sitting in a small theater where Cordelia is performing in a play.
• She’s really not good.
• Afterward, she asks them if she was good. They pretty much lie to her.
• While they’re walking, they spot a famous actress arriving at some event.
• The actress is almost hit by a car and Angel saves her life.
• Rebecca, the actress, is extremely grateful. Angel manages to do the thing where he silently and sneakily walks away from the publicity. But Cordelia gives Rebecca their card.
• Rebecca comes to the office the next day to talk to Angel.
• She reveals that she has a stalker who sends her letters written in blood. Angel knows immediately that it’s not blood.
• Rebecca wants to hire Angel, but he declines to take her case.
• Which really upsets Cordelia. Wesley realizes that Angel is afraid of getting close.
• Cordelia fakes a vision, claiming Rebecca is in danger. The guys don’t buy it.
• We glimpse Rebecca’s life at home. She’s miserable in her life of popularity. Hating to be loved by so many fake people, desperate at the same time to remain relevant.
• Once she’s alone at home, she’s not really alone.
• Angel bursts into her home to save her from someone dressed in black with a ski mask on.
• The bad guy gets away, but then Rebecca notices that Angel doesn’t have a reflection in the mirror.
• Uh… how was Angel able to burst into her house without being invited first? Did I miss that?
• Angel sticks around but hides while the authorities are their to clean up the mess.
• Rebecca sees Angel and she sees her ticket to ageless immortality.
• The next morning, Cordelia is concerned about Angel spending the night at Rebecca’s. She’s worried that he could lose his soul.
• Angel accompanies Rebecca to a movie premiere where they’re attacked by a man with a gun. Angel easily takes care of him.
• Rebecca recognizes the stalker as a stuntman who was once represented by her manager.
• The manager admits that he set up all the stalker scenarios because he thought the publicity would help her career.
• It didn’t work. She didn’t get the part she was up for. The manager makes the mistake of telling her that no one stays young forever.
• So she gives a sideways glance toward Angel…
• The next day, Rebecca asks Cordelia to spend the day with her. She flatters Cordelia all day and is, in reality, pumping her for information on Angel.
• That night Rebecca surprises Angel at his place. She gets him to pour them each a glass of champagne.
• And then she puts something in Angel’s glass.
• When it starts to take effect, she tries to convince him that they could be together forever. Her hope is that he’ll loosen up just enough to turn her into a vampire.
• She doesn’t understand. She thinks that she can be a vampire like Angel… a good vampire.
• Rebecca asks if he thinks he deserves some happiness. He says that’s not a good idea.
• She doesn’t get that becoming a vampire means becoming an evil, soulless monster.
• When he realizes he’s been drugged, she says it’s just something to loosen him up. A happy pill.
• Then he vamps out an confesses that he is perfectly happy.
• And if you know Angel’s history, you know that perfect happiness means he loses his soul.
• Say hello to Angelus.
• He’s always so much more fun than Angel.
• He lets Rebecca know that he’ll gladly torture her for a few unbelievably long hours and then she can let him know if this is the lifestyle for her.
• She manages to get into the elevator to get back upstairs where she runs into Wesley and Cordelia.
• Cordelia assumes she slept with Angel. But she explains about the drugged champagne. Wesley recognizes the drug as something that induces a synthetic sort of bliss.
• It’ll wear off. But that could be a problem in the meantime if they can’t get away.
• Angelus cuts the power. Wesley attempts to reason with him, explaining about the fake bliss.
• He throws Wesley across the room, knocking him out.
• Then Angelus makes fun of Cordelia’s acting from the beginning of the episode.
• Cordelia grabs her water bottle and threatens to splash Angelus.
• She says she thinks about Angel turning evil every day. That’s why she keeps stakes and crosses in her desk and has a local priest bless the drinking water every second Tuesday.
• Turns out she’s bluffing. But it was a believable enough performance that allowed Wesley to throw Angelus down the elevator shaft.
• When he wakes up, he’s firmly chained to his bed.
• All’s well that ends well. And no one died!