Angel/Recap/S01/E03 In the Dark

Oz comes to LA to drop off a gift for Angel from Buffy: The gem of Amarra. Unfortunately for our heroes Spike comes too, seeking the gem. Angel is tortured but refuses to give Spike the ring. Doyle and Cordelia, with Oz's help save the day and Angel, using the gem's magic power, gets some time in the sun. After watching his first sunset in 200 years however, Angel destroys the ring, realising it's more likely to tempt him away from his path to redemption.

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Tropes used in Angel/Recap/S01/E03 In the Dark include:

• Acceptable Political Targets

He’s a bloody king of torture, he is. Humans, demons, politicians, makes no difference.

• Armor-Piercing Question: Marcus deliberately and repeatedly asks Angel, "What do you want?" while torturing him with sunlight and hot pokers. Because he is a Living Lie Detector, Marcus is unfazed by Angel's false answers. (The real answer, of course, turns out to be: Forgiveness.)
• The Atoner: Angel
• Bald of Evil / Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Marcus
• Call Back: While filling in Doyle on Spike, Cordelia references the Judge's "arm in a box" from the Buffy episode "Surprise".
• Captain Obvious: Oz sees Angel in the daylight.

"You're incredibly pale."

• Car Fu: Done with Oz's van, first to pull a Big Damn Heroes with Angel, then to knock down Marcus.
• Chain Pain: Marcus captures Angel this way.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Marcus shoves hot pokers through Angel's body and shoots holes in the ceiling to let sunlight burn him.
• Domestic Abuser: Lenny, Rachel's boyfriend.
• Gag Dub: Spike's Crowning Moment of Funny as seen here.
• Guns Akimbo: Oz does Crossbows Akimbo. Now that's cool.
• Hannibal Lecture: Part of Marcus' torture involve this. Angel responds with an attempted staking.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Spike sneering at Angel for his Badass Decay and for falling in love with Buffy; "How's that for perversion?"
• Hostage for Macguffin: Spike tells Cordelia and Doyle he'll exchange Angel's life for the Gem.
• Ho Yay: Marcus is complementing bare-chested Angel on the lack of damage to his skin over 200 years.

Spike: “Do you two need to be alone, or can we go on to the ouchy part?”

• The Informant: Manny the Pig and Frankie the Tripod.
• Invincible Hero: After the preceding Buffy episode ended on Buffy sending the Gem of Amara to Angel, this episode is required to devote itself to averting this trope so the show can retain some sense of tension.
• Leeroy Jenkins

Angel: “We duke it out, huh? Is this your big strategy to get the ring back?” Spike: “Hey, I had a plan!” Angel: “You? A plan?” Spike: “A good plan. Smart. Carefully laid out. But I got bored."

• Light Is Not Good: Marcus, a torturer vampire with pedophiliac tendencies, wears a white shirt.
• Loves the Sound of Screaming: Spike has been griping about Marcus constantly playing Mozart, but smiles when he makes Angel scream.

"Now that is music!”

• Mineral MacGuffin
• Mood Dissonance: Marcus plays a gramophone of Mozart's Symphony 41 while torturing Angel.
• No MacGuffin, No Winner: Angel destroys the Gem because it's too dangerous in the wrong hands, and because being able to follow a human-like existence would tempt him away from his path of redemption.
• Perp Sweating: A quick perp sweating montage as Angel beats his way to Spike.
• Required Spinoff Crossover: Spike finding the Gem of Amara is shown in the Buffy episode "The Harsh Light of Day".
• Rescue Sex: Spoofed by Spike.
• Ring of Power
• Shaggy Search Technique: Spike makes a half-hearted attempt to search Angel's quarters, runs into Doyle and Cordelia and figures it's more effective to just threaten Angel's life so they'll find the Gem for him.
• Spiky Hair: "And I'm almost out of that nancy boy hairgel I like."
• Tantrum Throwing / Failed Attempt At Drama

Spike: “Son of a bitch! - I do the work, - I do the digging, - fight off a Slayer, - drive to LA, find the help, and what do I get? - ROYALLY SCREWED, is what! - Well that cinches it. No more partners. From now on I’m my own man. A lone wolf. Sole survivor. Look out, here comes Spike! The baddest mother-- (a beam of sunlight hits the back of his head and his hair ignites) ARGH!

• Terse Talker: Oz vs. Angel.

Angel: “Oz.” Oz: “Hey.” Angel: “Nice surprise.” Oz: “Thanks.” Angel: “Staying long?” Oz: “Few days.” Doyle: “Are they always like this?” Oz: “No, we’re usually laconic.”

• Torture Technician

Spike: “Marcus is an expert. Some say artist, but I’ve never been comfortable with labels."

• Vampire Detective Series: Lampshaded and spoofed by Spike.

Angel: "Might as well go home, Spike. The Gem of Amarra stays with me.” Spike: “Why? Because you are vampire detective now? What’s next? Vampire cowboy? Vampire fireman? Oh, vampire ballerina.” Angel: “I do like to work with my legs.” [kicks Spike in the face]

• Vampire Invitation: Cordelia wants to hide from Spike at her place, as Spike hasn't been invited inside. Doyle points out that Spike can get round this problem just by burning down the building.
• Villain Ball: Spike thinks he's averted the Chronic Backstabbing Disorder problem by selecting an accomplice who's only interested in torture and molesting children. It doesn't occur to him that Marcus could do those things more effectively given the immunity of the Gem.
• We Will Meet Again: Spike to Angel

“I’ll get that ring. This isn’t over until one of us is a pile of dust, mate.”

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