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Buffy : The Vampire Slayer :
The Buffy & Angel Chronicles
 To
Order This Buffy/Angel Chronicles Gift Set, CLICK HERE
Upon the release of Angel on the WB Channel last
season, many people tuned in based on critic's accolades; this was
one of the few really great new shows to watch. However, given that the
series is a spin off of the WB's first big hit, Buffy : The Vampire
Slayer, few might know the story behind the character of Angel
(David Boreanaz), or his torrid love story with Buffy (Sarah Michelle
Gellar). Now, Fox Video allows you to catch up on the most major moments
of this romance (or keep the best part of it for your collection), in a
trio of Buffy episode tapes subtitled, The Buffy & Angel Chronicles.
Some might be a bit disappointed at first with this collection, because
while it is the best acted and most major moments of their relationship,
it's also the most poignant and sad. Volume 1 begins with the linked
episodes, "Surprise" and "Innocence," when Angel's
true curse is made apparent. As viewers of his series are aware, he's a
vampire who was cursed by a gypsy, some time ago, into having his soul
return. Vampires, when they take over a human, take over the body, yet can
never truly have the soul; that's why they rarely have any ethics, morals,
or guilt of what they are doing. Once Angel's soul is returned, his mortal
self finally remembers everything evil that he had done as a vampire. The
gypsy wanted him to walk the Earth with this guilt, forever. He eventually
decides to make amends, in a way, by helping Buffy "save the
world."
There's a catch, though; the curse only allows him a life of tormented
guilt. He cannot have even one moment of pure pleasure and joy, or else
the curse is lifted, and his soul disappears again. This poses a major
problem, when Buffy and Angel share their first (ahem) evening together.
It takes both Angel --now a full fledged vampire again-- and Buffy, some
time to figure out what has happened. This is the Buffy
season when things really started to get interesting, and if you never saw
it, you're in for a real thrill...
Other episodes are the four best moments of this same season. In
"Passion," Buffy and her friends realize that they have already
invited Angel into their homes...and now he's evil! They must find a way
to reverse that invitation, and protect their homes from his attacks. In
"I Only Have Eyes For You," there's a wonderful ghost story.
When the spirits of past lovers take over their bodies, it appears that
Buffy and Angel might still have some feelings for each other, even now...
By the volume #3, "Becoming" (a two-part story, on one tape),
The original gypsy spell has been found again, and they can give Angel his
soul back, to make him "good" again! However, at the same time,
he's concocted a doomsday plot that can only be averted if Buffy sends Angel
to Hell. What is the solution? Well, it's certainly one of the most well
acted and emotional moments on TV, that's for sure. So much so, that this
is the first time that Joss Whedan's company logo didn't go "Grrr,
Argh!" in the credits. This time around, he's heard whimpering,
"Awww, I need a hug!"
The Volume #3 episodes also contain some interesting flashbacks. We see
Angel's becoming a vampire (in 1753!), and how he really only became a
vampire while trying to gallantly escort an innocent-looking maiden home
at night (it turned out she was a vampire). We see his slowly
learning of Buffy, and how it really was love at first sight for him.
These flashbacks are excellent for any watcher of the Angel
series that has never seen them, and if you won't get the entire 3 volume
collection, I'd recommend Volume 3, at least. It's some of the best
moments in the Buffy/Angel romance...
Each tape also includes anecdotes by series creator Joss Whedon
himself. Most anecdotes involve why he did that particular episode, and
major scenes that he thought were significant to the bigger, evolving
story that season. He even mentions the first time in these eps when he
considered putting Boreanaz in his own show (you might be surprised which
episode it is).
Series fans will have even more fun with the tapes, as they re-live
major "little scenes" in the show. You get to see Cordelia's
first kiss with Zander, and Willow catching them together. You get to see
Oz (Seth Green) first get introduced to Buffy's "Scooby gang,"
and his unsurprised reaction to vampires in SunnyDale
("Actually...that explains a lot!"). You get to see Oz
and Willow have their first romantic conversation together, which set the
mood for their romance that developed throughout that season. Willow casts
her first big spell, attempting to bring Angel's soul back. One of my
all-time favorite scenes is how Buffy defeats the demon in
"Innocence," who claims that "no forged weapon can defeat
me!" As Buffy says, "Times change!"
The overall feeling is, seriously, if you're even slightly interested
in the Buffy or Angel series, this is the tape collection to buy.
While the "ending" of volume 3 is, as I mentioned, particularly
sad (the finale of "Becoming" was their end-of-season
cliffhanger at the time), all you really need to do is see the series now,
to know that everything turned out all right. These tapes, though, will
bring you up to date with both series, if you aren't already. Given how
excellently made these episodes were, you truly shouldn't miss them...
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