And Quite Attractive for a Demon

As I said a few posts ago, I've been watching Angel again, and what a great show it is. And it was only natural that I wrote about my favorite episodes. I was going to do the usual Top 10, but since the season is 22 episodes, choosing half of them felt almost like cheating to me. Therefore, and even though choosing ten would have been very easy, I decided to make things difficult for myself and I went for a slim Top 5. And since Halagan already pointed out my useful honorable mention trick, I won't do it this time. So here you have them (in the order they aired), Angel season one's five best episodes:

City of
The first one and still to this day one of my favorite episodes. It's funny, it's dark, it's exciting, it's intriguing, and it has Angel kicking a vampire sitting on a chair through a window. Classic.

I Will Remember You
A gut-wrenching episode, Angel becomes human when Buffy is around, and all of a sudden their forbidden romance can actually happen. Or not: it's just a matter of time. A very emotional, tremendously compelling episode.

Expecting
Cordelia's unexpected -and sort of funny- pregnancy reveals how deeply Angel and Wesley care about her; how the three characters care about each other. And even without all the emotional resonance, this episode would just make the top 5 because of the classic opening scene with Wes and Angel at a party… Dancing. 'Nuff said!

Five by Five/Sanctuary
Come on, don't say I'm cheating: this is clearly a two-parter, and therefore these episodes should be considered just one. And what a great episode this one is. It has it all: Buffy visiting, Faith on the run, Detective Kate and her rapidly deteriorating relationship with Angel, the first appearance of Lindsay and Layla as a team, the sudden prominence of Wolfram & Hart, the first hints at the Darla storyline with flashbacks from Angel's past… and a lot of emotional charge and great dialogue. Not to mention the scene where Faith shoots her crossbow at Angel, and he turns around and catches the flying arrow with his hand. Faith says "That was so cool!", but that is a monstrous understatement.

To Shanshu in LA
The season finale is epic and packed with character interaction. Again, we can see how much Angel has come to care for Cordy and Wesley, and how much these two care about him as well. Plus Lindsay kissing his hand goodbye, and Angel telling him "Don't believe everything you're foretold." Have I already mentioned what a badass the vampire with a soul is?