DavidBorenanz

(S01E04) When you come right down to it, Angel is really not a show about vampires and demons and evil law firms (well, more evil than normal) and one man's journey of redemption to prove that the soul returned to him was justified. In reality, Angel is a very good mystery. And, that was given prudence credence with this week's show.

There were no vampires, no demons, no evil law firms (although Wolfram & Hart was mentioned). Heck, even Angel (David Boreanaz) didn't go vamp this episode. Other than the fact that the perpetrator was able to physically separate his body parts and rejoin them at will, this could have been an episode of Law and Order: SVU. Come to think of it, this could be an episode of SVU for the future. I can see it now:  Detectives Benson and Stabler get attacked by disembodied hands and are hospitalized, leaving Munch and Tutuola to solve the case and become the darlings of the SVU unit. I smell Emmy!

(S01E03) Oz (Seth Green) about Angel: He's very pale. Paler than most people.

If there was any doubt that Angel was still part of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe it was smothered quickly with this episode as not one, but two members of the Buffy cast appeared. Actually, when the show first aired back in October of 1999, it was the second part of a story that began on Buffy, which appeared on the same network as Angel back in the olden days.

In the Buffy episode vampire Spike (James Masters) searches for the Gem of Ammara:  a ring that makes vampires impervious to death and allows them to go out into the sunlight without bursting into flame. Buffy manages to find the ring and asks Oz (Seth Green) to deliver it to Angel (David Borenanz) in Los Angeles. Spike also travels to L.A. to meet up with his old blood-sucking friend and torture him to death. Ah, friendship.