Becoming Part 1

These snapshots may contain SPOILERS for the entire series, so if for some reason you haven't yet seen some of the episodes and do not want to know what is going on, read no further.
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Through flashbacks, we see much of Angel's history. We see him sired by Darla in 1753, driving Drusilla mad and then siring her in 1860, and being cursed with a soul by the Kalderash clan in 1898. In the present, Angelus hatches a plan to awaken the demon Acathla, who will open a gateway to a hell dimension, and bring Hell to Earth.
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Whistler: No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So what are we, helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come. You can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are.


Great character development, great dialogue and a good plot.

An episode about the moments that make up our lives - begins with an image of a lone traveler, journeying slowly across the essential components of a long road. "Becoming Part 1" is all about Angel. Through a series of flashbacks we see his life (and un-life) unfold. The episode presents on screen for the first time events mentioned in previous episodes: Darla turning Angel into a vampire in 1753 Galway, Angel's mental torture of Drusilla, and Angel being cursed by the gypsies.


We get to watch Buffy's tentative first staking, an episode highlight, and meet Buffy's original Watcher for the first time in the series. There's also a real sense of déjà vu about this episode, from elements of Darla’s dress which reminds us of Halloween, Xander and his fish-stick puppets remind us of Go Fish, the claddagh ring reminds us of Surprise.

Buffy's fellow Slayer, Kendra, and Darla return, but really, neither is given much to do. Well except for Kendra; she gets killed (yeah Faith). There's also Whistler, another character to complicate things. He's a meddlesome demon with unclear motivations for becoming involved. Plus personally I find him annoying.

Minor nitpick, Buffy has no way of knowing that Drusilla killed Kendra, as there were no conscious witnesses.


Foreshadowing

Buffy: "I meant to pay for that lipstick," she tells Merrick. Hmm... is petty pilfering something that runs in the family, then Dawn?

Darla: (to Angel) Close your eyes. She then proceeds to kill him(turn him into a vampire). Buffy repeats this line in part 2, right before killing him.

Giles: Willow... channeling... such potent magics through yourself, it could open a door that you may not be able to close. - Season 6



My views/status of characters;
Buffy - like
Willow - like
Xander - like
Giles - like
Cordelia - like
Spike - like
Angel/us - like
Oz - like

Overall I consider this a very good episode compared to the rest of the season.