"I Will Remember You" (Angel 1.8): Bring even more pain

The Whedonverse re-watch is back, bitches, and in even better news, my intrepid co-watcher Jenn got a break from academic superstardom to rejoin the party! She has aptly deemed this episode the Angel guide to surviving a post-break-up booty call.

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This is totally going to happen.

Let's continue the Buffering, shall we?

DON'T stalk your ex without even saying hello.
It's been awhile since our last installment, so just as a reminder, last we saw our tall, tortured, and handsome vamp he was back on skulking patrol in Sunnydale, helping Buffy fight off a vengeance spirit on Thanksgiving from the sidelines. He gave the Scoobies some boo-shit about it hurting him to hide from Buff more than it would hurt her to know he was in town without telling her. Fail, Angel. She made a special trip to L.A. to tell him she's pissed. And the anger? It's working for them.

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Make-up sex is a thing for a reason, kids.

In the midst of a classic Buffy vs. Angel existential drama, a Mara demon appears, and leads them into the sewers. Which brings us to Jenn's point . . .

DO have your relationship-defining talks in a neutral locale.
Buffy and Angel get their best talking done in SoCal septic systems. In this instance, they both admit how hard the separation has been for them, and how much harder it makes it to see each other again (because of all that WICKED CHEMISTRY), so it might just be best if they kept their distance from each other while Buffy is in L.A. Which would be all well and good, except . . . Angel gets up close and personal with some Mora blood, and it renders him human. Oh, snap.

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Broad sunlight and not a sparkle in sight.

DON'T underestimate the delights of the senses.
A newly mortal Angel discovers the delights of food, of sunlight, and of guilt-free "groiny time" with Buffy. His body's capacity to experience all sorts of pleasure is reawakened when he regains his humanity, which is interesting for theoretical reasons that I won't go into here. Let's keep our eyes on the ball, and the ball in this case is shirtless Angel. A grateful nation thanks writer David Greenwalt.

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Ice cream just isn't worth eating if you're not using Angel's chest as a plate.

DO bear what you must.
Unfortunately, much like with the ring of Amara, Angel feels he hasn't fully earned this redemption. His non-vampiric self is unable to do the work he feels he must--protect the innocent, including and especially the Slayer. He asks the goofy-looking Oracles to restore his demonic body so he might be a better defender of the weak.

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And the hot get hotter.

DON'T forget that in the Whedonverse, love isn't brains, it's blood.
To paraphrase another hot and tortured vamp, Spike's ontological definition of love in the 'verse applies here. Though the Oracles take away the day Buffy and Angel spent together as a "normal" couple and say only Angel will remember what they had, Buffy's tearful promise that she won't forget either seems right to me. Jenn expresses it so well, again I quote her: "Forgetting is NEVER going to happen with a love like what Buffy and Angel share nor should it, but I guess that's the point, huh? You can't get a love that deep out of your system. (Which is why Buffy can feel him, right?)"

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You wouldn't soon forget such ridiculous sexiness either, amirite?

Agreed. Even though her mind might have been wiped clean, her, ahem, body will always harbor the memory of what they were, and what they could still be. This is why no matter what, I will never give up on these two.

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Sniff.