It’s almost impossible to look at Angel in the first year of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and not think of everything that awaits him in the second, and beyond. There’s the big, obvious, unforgettable stuff, of course, the events of “Surprise,” “Innocence,” and of course “Becoming.” But it’s little things too: in “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date,” Cordelia gets her first sighting of the Broodiest Vamp Ever. For seasoned fans, this whisper of an encounter brings up so many memories, calling up the whole story of Angel and Cordelia and their peculiar evil-fighting partnership.
Big things happen to Angel in his opening year in Sunnydale—that much is indisputable. He meet the Slayer, falls for her, and comes out to her as a vampire. He sacrifices Darla, gains Buffy’s acceptance and... well, other than that, he spends a lot of time avoiding her, actually.
It’s too painful, he says, by way of an excuse, to be around Buffy.
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