Angel: City of...

"Los Angeles. You see it at night and it shines; a beacon. People are drawn to it. People and other things. They come for all sorts of reasons. My reason? No surprise there. It started with a girl."

- Angel

"City of..." is the pilot episode of the television series Angel. It first aired on the WB Network on Tuesday, October 5th, 1999. This episode was directed by series creator Joss Whedon with a script written by Whedon and executive producer David Greenwalt. The events from this episode take place following the events of "Graduation Day (Part 2)" of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In the episode, the eponymous hero Angel relocates to Los Angeles, California where he hopes to find redemption by saving the lives of people in need. He encounters a half-human/half-demon named Quinn who has clairvoyant visions that aids Angel in finding those in need of his specific brand of help. Another former Sunnydale resident, Cordelia Chase, arrives in L.A. hoping to become an actress. Little does she realize that she is about to become Angel's next client.

Synopsis
Angel relocates from Sunnydale to Los Angeles in his ongoing mission of redemption. After setting himself up in a Spartan midtown apartment with roof and sewer access, he comes upon a half-demon named Allen Doyle. Angel instantly recognizes that Doyle is something more than human and the Irish man confesses that he is half-demon. Gifted with painful clairvoyant visions from "The Powers That Be", Doyle seems to know everything there is to know about Angel and wants to help him in his quest to aid those in need of rescuing. Reluctant to trust anyone, much less a demon welcoming him with open arms, Angel decides to let Doyle hang around him.

Angel is witness to one of Doyle's debilitating visions, but learns very little except for the words "Tina... Coffee Spot... 5:00 pm". Angel decides to go to this location to find out who Tina is and why she might be in trouble. When he arrives at the coffee shop, he meets Tina, who happens to be a waitress. He tries striking up a conversation, but his lack of modern social skills makes him extremely nervous. Regardless, Tina takes a liking to Angel and grows to trust him. She reveals that she has been trying to get into the acting business and was hoping to get her foot in the door via a man named Russell Winters. However, she has grown increasingly wary of Russell's help and now fears that he may endanger her life. Angel agrees to give Tina a ride to a big Hollywood party. While there, he runs into a familiar face - Cordelia Chase. Cordelia, also a former resident of Sunnydale, has come to L.A. to become an actress. She is excited to see Angel, but is more concerned with hobnobbing with the crème de la crème of L.A. society. Tina meanwhile, runs afoul of one of Russell's hired goons, Stacy. Stacy harasses her and Angel confronts the belligerent man in the parking garage of the hotel. He invites Tina to stay at his place so he can make sure that she is safe. Tina accepts the offer and Angel begins looking into Russell Winters' background. He discovers that one of Tina's friends, a woman named Denise, was also an associate of Russell Winters and had been recently murdered. Tina finds the note with the words "Tina... Coffee Spot... 5:00 pm" scrawled upon them and realizes that Angel knew about her before meeting her at the shop. Convinced that Angel is actually another of Russell's enforcers, she frantically leaves his house.

That evening, Tina returns to her home and begins packing up her clothes. Russell Winters appears before her and she asks him about Denise. With a friendly smile, he assures her that her friend is fine and that she went back home to be with her family. He asks Tina what it is that she wants, and she tells him that she wants to go home. At this point, Russell reveals himself as a vampire and kills her. Russell then meets with a man named Lindsey McDonald. Lindsey is an attorney for a prestigious law firm called Wolfram and Hart and he makes certain that Tina's untimely demise cannot be traced back to his client. After observing video footage of the Hollywood party, Russell decides on his next victim - Cordelia.

Angel learns about Tina and swears to avenge her death. He tracks down Russell's stooge Stacy and interrogates him until he reveals where Russell Winters lives. He convinces Doyle to come with him in case he might need insight from the demon's untimely visions. Cordelia meanwhile, is living in a small, disheveled apartment with no money and is practically starving. One of her contacts from party, Margo, telephones her and tells her that Russell Winters wants to meet her. She punctuates the statement by indicating that Winters' is a rich and powerful man who might help make Cordelia's dreams of being a movie star come true. Cordelia goes to Winters' lavish mansion, but after only spending a few minutes with the man, figures out that he is a vampire. Russell tries to dismiss the accusation at first, but decides to give up the charade and reveal his true face. He attacks Cordelia, but fortunately for her, Angel arrives just in time to save her. Russell's hired goons appear and begin firing at Angel and Cordelia. Angel shelters Cordelia, allowing the bullets to strike him instead of her. The two make it out of the building where Doyle is waiting parked outside in Angel's car. They return to Angel's hideaway where Doyle and Cordelia dress his wounds.

The following day, Angel bursts into a top floor conference room at Russell Winters Enterprises, where Winters is conducting a meeting with Lindsey McDonald and other representatives of from Wolfram and Hart. Approaching Winters directly, he rhetorically asks him, "Can you fly?", then push-kicks the man out the window of his own skyscraper. Russell falls, but the early morning sun turns his body to ash long before it ever has the chance of reaching the ground. Lindsey, showing little reaction to this, contacts his superiors at Wolfram and Hart.

Back at his abode, Angel greets Doyle and Cordelia. Cordelia, not wishing to let on that she is practically penniless, suggests that the three of them should set up their own business helping those in need. Doyle reminds Angel that there are many people in L.A. that need help and asks him if he's game. Angel stands alone atop a skyscraper, looking out over the bustling L.A. nightscape, he responds, "I'm game."

Notes & Trivia

 * This episode is included on disc one of the Angel: Season One DVD collection. It is also included in the Angel: The Complete Series collection.


 * Production code number: 1ADH01.


 * The title of the episode is shortened from "City of Angels", the Spanish translation of Los Angeles.


 * Angel and Cordelia both appeared last in the "Graduation Day (Part 2)" episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.


 * First appearance of Allen Doyle and Lindsey McDonald. Both of them will play an integral role in Angel's life in future episodes.


 * Episode includes archive footage of Sarah Michelle Gellar from the pilot episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Welcome to the Hellmouth".


 * Doyle presents a lengthy bit of exposition, essentially recapping Angel's history up until the present day.


 * When she was a sophmore in high school, Cordelia once remarked about how she had always wanted to visit L.A.


 * Doyle's true face is briefly seen in this episode.

Quotes

 * Allen Francis Doyle: Left you with a bit of craving, didn't it? Let me tell you something, pal, that craving's gonna grow. And one day soon, one of those helpless victims that you don't really care about is gonna look way too appetizing to turn down. And you'll figure, "Hey, what's one against all I've saved? Might as well eat them. Still ahead by the numbers."

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 * Allen Francis Doyle: As it happens, I'm very much human... on my mother's side.

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 * Cordelia Chase: We grew up in a nice home. It wasn't like this, but we did have a room or two that we didn't even know what they were for. Till the IRS got all huffy about my folks not paying their taxes for, well, ever.

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 * Cordelia Chase: I'm from Sunnydale. We had our own Hellmouth. I think I know a vampire when... I'm... alone with him... in his... fortress-like home.