(S01E02) Cordelia: I guess the single life is particularly tough on you.

Angel: Why?

Cordelia: Well, a couple hundred years ago, the only thing you had to worry about was a hangover. Today, because of your curse thingy, you can't sleep with anyone or else you might feel a moment of true happiness and lose your soul, become evil -- again -- and kill everyone.

Angel: Thanks Cordelia. I always appreciate your perspective.

Loneliness sucks. I remember the time before I met my lovely wife how I'd spend countless days and nights alone, never going out, never talking to anyone. Now that I've been married seven years, and have four beautiful children (two of them just born this past April). I'm never lonely. And, Lord, how I miss it! I need the loneliness like a man needs water. Just five minutes of solitude. Just five minutes. And, would you stop jumping on the sofa, for Pete's sake!

Ahem. Bit of a nervous breakdown there. Sorry about that.

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(S01E01) Quiet. If there's one word that can describe the essence of the Angel series premiere it would be 'quiet'. Oh, sure, there are battles, there are chase scenes, and Angel tosses another vampire out the window to a fiery, sunlit death, but even those were very subdued.

Of course, that's the nature of the main character, Angel (David Boreanaz); the quiet, loner vampire with a soul who kills other vampires and demons to atone for his past sins. We didn't notice this when he was in Sunnydale because Buffy Summers and the rest of the Scooby gang of Buffy the Vampire Slayer made up for it with their snappy dialog and daily battles against the demons of the Hellmouth. In fact, Angel left Buffy, his one time lover, and the town of Sunnydale, after a particularly bloody battle to save the town from a human-eating demon. It's just when he relocates to Los Angeles do we realize that Angel is quite the brooder, quite the wandering soul . . . and very much unsure of what his role in life is.