Darla in BtVS Season 1

[NileQT87]

in the drusilla vs. kendra thread, the subject of darla in season 1 btvs came up. something i've long noted was that people thought that this early form of darla was out of character with the darla shown in ats. i've always disagreed and actually find her behaviors in btvs to show up again and again in her behavior.

i wrote this on another forum about darla's use of guns and the fact that greenwalt did have more planned out (he pretty much created darla and angel) than you're giving him credit for:

ah, but darla isn't about being personal. she runs and saves her own hide rather than get caught. she would rather play dirty than get caught or deal one-on-one. if you'll note, she often leaves angelus behind to get the wrath of THEIR victims. angelus enjoys getting personal. darla protects her hide and has no desire to fight things stronger than her.

darla's use of guns is smack dab right for her personality. darla would NEVER fight buffy hand-to-hand. she breaks the rules and either makes it an unfair fight (bringing vampire backups and a flaming arrow--for another example of darla bringing weapons to a fight--or using guns on buffy) or runs away.

darla is rational. she's not averse to cheating or letting others take the wrath (technically, holtz had more reason to be pissed at darla than angelus--same with the gypsies--darla was the one who caught and brought angel the gypsy girl). darla never fights fairly. she's brought weapons to a fight at least twice--and three times if you count that she was threatening to kill angel in china with a knife to his neck. darla definitely doesn't like to fight with her fists. darla also is the type who hires goons to fight her fights for her--we see this twice with rescuing angelus from holtz (where she brings a flaming arrow/crossbow) and the champions she hires in redefinition to fight angel. darla doesn't like to risk her hide.

buffy, for darla, wasn't about besting her in a physical fight, it was about KILLING her--to get her dead and out of the way... and with the least amount of risk to herself. darla is the type who fights unfairly with weapons or with others as fodder so that there is no risk to her.

she is probably the main reason that she and angelus habitually picked on the weak and innocent. holtz was probably the strongest thing she participated in going after--and she always left angelus to face him one-on-one and practically left all of the blame in holtz's eyes on angelus, despite her being worse.

as for how much of the darla/angel story was written in season 1, david greenwalt (who practically invented both the storylines for those characters) actually had darla mention that she had brought angelus the gypsy girl in the shooting script of angel, but the line was deleted.

i actually don't think the early-darla is all that far off from ats-darla... and i guess i'm one of the few that think the same of angel. both have reasons for their changing.

also remember that angel even called darla out on acting like a schoolgirl--that she was in a phase of trying to attract angel again because she was jealous of angel's feelings for buffy. we hear more on this subject in dear boy where darla even calls buffy angel's "new" "cheerleader" infatuation. what season 1 darla was doing was trying to get angel back by thinking she could win him back if she acted like what angel was now into. it was a jealousy thing. darla's schoolgirl act was acted correctly--a character who is playing something other than what she really is (darla was a cynical whore--sort of a dowager figure--darla has difficulty pulling off innocence and that came out in julie's portrayal of schoolgirl-darla). even when both angelus and darla were in their heyday, darla was hyper-aware of not being perceived as "new" enough for angelus, as was shown when she ran off to the master when angelus chuckled at drusilla's "grandmum" comment.

in fact, it was the first thing angel noted when darla showed up in his apartment--the costume was quite absurd for who she was. darla did it because she didn't think angel's infatuation with buffy was anything more than her being "new". darla was hoping it was just a phase and was trying to act like how she thought angel would like her better. darla, who was the antithesis of pure and innocent, was feeling inadequate when her former lover was desiring youth, purity and innocence. she was jealous of angel's affections.

soulless-darla exhibited similar insecurities when drusilla rambled about angel missing when she was warm (human). darla actually kind of freaks out about it. there's nothing soulless-darla wants more than to have angel desire and love her. it's not so much about being disgusted about the soul, but knowing that angelus accepts her more than angel would, even though angel can love the way angelus can't. even soulless-darla is aware that she was closer to having angel care about her when she was human. her insecurity drives even the demon--same with william.

darla told angel twice that he wasn't soulless enough for her, but she still wanted him, regardless. darla never stopped wanting angel. it goes back to darla's issues with never knowing love, but actively wanting it, even as a soulless demon. darla was not devoid of humanity the way angelus had purged himself of it. darla was very insecure and always looking for that companion who might be able to love her. she thought she had it when she found angelus, but they were incapable of loving each other. darla gave angel a chance even when he had been following her for 2 years with a soul--she still desired his love. what human-darla tells angel at the end of the trial is just this. and she was unable to love another until she had connor.

that's how i view early-darla's schoolgirl phase. the acting style was different, but it was supposed to come off fake. you'll notice that julie benz's voice takes on a completely different tone and sincerity when she says angel's name as he kills her. in that second, she returns to being the real darla.

[Retrograde]

I definitely agree that BtVS Season 1 Darla is not out of character; I think she was just a caricature of her character in Angel. BtVS Season 1 was about setting the premise for the show, and I think they needed a vampire like Darla to set it all up.

[Nina]

I'm a little bit in between actually, like you pointed out ... a lot of her season 1 behavior came back and wasn't OOC in any way. But on the other side, Darla was less of treat in BtVS. If you only watch BtVS you would never say that she was an equal of Angelus. Yes, she was smart and 'better' than the most other vampires ... but she was never the legend she is. But I blame this on the 'Buffy has to be the strongest' rule; Angel's fighting skills are also pathetic in BtVS (until he needs to be Angelus) ...

But what really annoys me, and is probably the reason why I am against season 1 Darla; We saw Darla having a fantastic fashion taste, not only in Ats but also in flashbacks. In BtVS she has a style that is no way womanlike; it looks cheap, pathetic and fashionless. Buffy jokes about it how awful it is. And Darla loves to be in the world and would never think that she could fit in with those clothes.

[NileQT87]

but at the same time, even though she's a "caricature", that caricature actually reveals something about darla and her jealous/insecure viewing of angel's new infatuation.

as i said, her behavior changes completely when angel puts a stake in her back. she's no longer speaking in a mocking voice or putting on a fake personality. she was honestly surprised that angel was staking her. i actually think that's an underrated moment for julie benz. she became the real darla in that one unexpected moment.

before that, she is mocking buffy's schoolgirl persona with an extreme caricature of a schoolgirl. the faux-darla was supposed to be a silly, tasteless joke about what darla thought angel was doing with buffy. it was supposed to show buffy as the opposite of the refined, worldly woman that darla's real image was--what she thought was right for angel. angel even knew that the outfit was ridiculous and not the real darla. darla was trying to make angel think that was what buffy was. the fact that angel was into buffy hit almost all of darla's major insecurities about what she wasn't--youth, newness, purity and innocence. the fact that those were the aspects she thought angel saw in buffy reveals more about darla than it does about angel.

darla clearly knew that angel had been following buffy around for about half a year (especially if you read the comic run where he follows her in L.A., las vegas and sunnydale) and had finally come to sunnydale as well. that costume was all about trying to stop angel's attention towards buffy or to somehow play the role of what angel was now into.

even if darla wasn't a fully fleshed out character as far as we knew THEN, they didn't just disregard what was revealed in that era of her character. and interestingly, greenwalt's dropped line in his angel script later became a canonical plot point in five by five, where darla bringing the gypsy girl to angelus was actually shown.

greenwalt was actually one of the better writers as far as mapping out timelines and using information in later episodes that he came up with years before. in fact, it seems it was mostly greenwalt that turned angel and darla into more than single-episode, one-shot characters (both were supposed to disappear after the pilot). hence, why he was co-creator of angel: the series.

as far as her equality to angelus--remember that darla is often non-confrontational. when buffy stakes thomas in wtth, darla is afraid of buffy. darla was clearly on the side of not facing slayers in fool for love and often would leave angelus to face holtz (and made herself scarce unless with fodder/backup). "i can't die. not like this." darla's #1 rule was to save her own hide. she was more afraid of death than most vampires because she had been afraid of death as a human. that's why when darla came at both holtz and buffy, she brought weapons and/or backup.

[Nina]

before that, she is mocking buffy's schoolgirl persona with an extreme caricature of a schoolgirl. the faux-darla was supposed to be a silly, tasteless joke about what darla thought angel was doing with buffy. it was supposed to show buffy as the opposite of the refined, worldly woman that darla's real image was--what she thought was right for angel. angel even knew that the outfit was ridiculous and not the real darla. darla was trying to make angel think that was what buffy was. the fact that angel was into buffy hit almost all of darla's major insecurities about what she wasn't--youth, newness, purity and innocence. the fact that those were the aspects she thought angel saw in buffy reveals more about darla than it does about angel.

darla clearly knew that angel had been following buffy around for about half a year (especially if you read the comic run where he follows her in L.A., las vegas and sunnydale) and had finally come to sunnydale as well. that costume was all about trying to stop angel's attention towards buffy or to somehow play the role of what angel was now into.

That isn't canon, is it? Because I never had the feeling that Darla was there because of Angel. She was there because of the Master who tried to return to the world. And Darla dumped Angel and had no intention to have him back. She didn't want Angel to be with Buffy, but there is nothing in the series that made me believe that Darla still followed Angel after all those years like that. And because Darla did wear those schooldress all the time, I don't believe that it was to show Angel anything. Darla wore those clothes and played that act the whole time ... in the cave with the master, the first time we saw her ... And I think that she didn't get what was happening between Angel and Buffy until 'Angel' when she started to do anything. If she wanted to stop Angel, she had to do that before he came to Sunnydale.

even if darla wasn't a fully fleshed out character as far as we knew THEN, they didn't just disregard what was revealed in that era of her character. and interestingly, greenwalt's dropped line in his angel script later became a canonical plot point in five by five, where darla bringing the gypsy girl to angelus was actually shown.

greenwalt was actually one of the better writers as far as mapping out timelines and using information in later episodes that he came up with years before. in fact, it seems it was mostly greenwalt that turned angel and darla into more than single-episode, one-shot characters (both were supposed to disappear after the pilot). hence, why he was co-creator of angel: the series.

I agree, and I still think that David Greenwalt's departure did hurt both series a lot.

as far as her equality to angelus--remember that darla is often non-confrontational. when buffy stakes thomas in wtth, darla is afraid of buffy. darla was clearly on the side of not facing slayers in fool for love and often would leave angelus to face holtz (and made herself scarce unless with fodder/backup). "i can't die. not like this." darla's #1 rule was to save her own hide. she was more afraid of death than most vampires because she had been afraid of death as a human. that's why when darla came at both holtz and buffy, she brought weapons and/or backup.

I agree that Darla is not a vampire who likes to take risks with her life, but I think that it's more ratio than real fear. Why fighting somebody that is made to kill you when you don't have to? It's stupid ... Angelus had the same attitude. Both loved the good life, killed some people here ... and some there. But they never hunted slayers down, both won because they killed the family of Holtz ... they never tried to fight Holtz. Angelus pointed Holtz to Darla to save his own ass, Darla left Angelus to save herself. Both didn't fight Buffy until it was personal, and on that moment ... they weren't scared. They are not interested in killing warriors and slayers, that doesn't make them scared, it's pretty smart actually.

And I don't think that Darla was scared for death, when we saw her dieing in 'Darla', we saw a woman who was fearless, just bitter. And Darla has peace with her death in 'The Trial'. Yes she tried to stop it, which is not more than natural I think ... but in the end, she was scared to be alone. And we see the same back with Angel.

No, I think that Darla and Angelus are pretty much the same in a lot of areas. Darla is calmer and trust on her ratio where Angelus can be obsessed sometimes ... but they work the same way.

[vampmogs]

I think another big "that's the real Darla moment" in Btvs season one is when she reveals her plan to the Master and says "Angel kills her and comes back to the fold." She's deadly serious there, it's the real Darla coming out. She's talking business, she's talking about Angel and she's revealing how nasty and manipulative she can be. Her tone changes, the same way it does when she's staked in the back, you see a glimpse of the real Darla.

I like the idea she was mocking Angel's new love, and I kind of like how in doing so she became utterly pathetic. Buffy's right, even as a guy I could tell that the outfit was clearly distasteful. But Darla always has turned a tad pathetic and petty when it comes to Buffy/Angel hasn't she? It's her one downfall, because of her jealousy and both of them having what she and Angel didn't have? The same way she kind of had a little pathetic moment in her jealous "but that cheerleader did?" She was trying to lessen what Buffy was. She reduced her from an epic legendary vampire slayer, to a *cheerleader.* Certainly very different from how they paint a picture of slayers to Spike in ?Fool For Love.'

Buffy/Angel and what that represents has always brought out Darla's more pathetic and unguarded side.

[NileQT87]

darla was with the master, but her plan with the schoolgirl outfit was all about mocking buffy to lessen her for angel.

i don't think darla followed angel in new york, L.A. and las vegas, but i got the distinct impression that when angel came to sunnydale, darla knew he was there before angel knew she was there. darla started wearing the outfits at least the day before buffy's first day at school. who knows--the fact that she left a dead boy in aura's school locker might have had to do something about this new schoolgirl that angel was trailing. i don't think it would be extreme to hypothesize that darla wanted angel's "new" schoolgirl crush out of the picture. darla's victim was pretty much considered the school highlight of buffy's first day at school.

angel, if you take the comics into consideration (there's nothing that obliterates them--and very well-written), arrived in sunnydale around the time buffy first did, which was a few days before that. darla must have picked up on information that angel had come to town, and yes, angel was following buffy around before he finally revealed himself. angel had already picked up that the master was in town and had the harvest planned--angel clearly knew within about a week what the master was doing and where he was--that means angel was beating up lower inhabitants. thus, the master, darla, etc... would all know that angel was in town. apparently, somebody must have also figured out why angel was in town (buffy--but only that she was a young girl he was watching).

when angel comments on her outfit, she even says right there that "last time i saw you, it wasn't high school girls". she is fanning her skirt, saying "don't you like?" and rubbing the schoolgirl thing in angel's face. the "don't you like?" moment, in particular, insinuates why she's wearing it. and we know that it isn't like darla to normally wear that kind of outfit. i think it's definite that darla was wearing those clothes as a statement to angel both about buffy's incorrectness for him and/or darla's own desirability as if his thing for buffy was purely a fetish.

darla's schoolgirl costume thing had everything to do with the buffy/angel situation that she was jealous of. that she continued wearing it around the master was probably because every time we saw her go to the master, she was coming from being out around town in sunnydale. none of her moments with the master were hanging out in his lair--they were all back-and-forth-from-the-outside-world information moments--and plus, she likes a view. i seriously doubt she was living with the master.

the master was aware that darla had ulterior motives concerning angel about killing buffy and questioned her on it.

she came to sunnydale for the master, but she was spending a lot of time out and about sunnydale and knew that angel was following a young girl, but she didn't know buffy was the slayer (as she was clearly surprised by that news). same with how angel knew where the master was and what he was doing from probably beating up lower inhabitants. the same lower inhabitants that probably were watching angel.

in terms of more 'real darla' moments, her talk with angel to goad him into killing buffy and bringing out the 'real' him/"tell her about the curse" was also pretty strongly her. darla also goes as far as to say that if buffy doesn't believe him about the curse, that angel knows where darla will be. darla clearly is so jealous at this point that she's willing to take angel back even with a soul just so buffy doesn't get him.

we see darla very self-conscious around angel about how much he desires her. darla outright says the same line buffy said in innocence. "was i not good?" darla's disparaging against buffy in dear boy is also revealing about what she was doing back in sunnydale and her jealousy over angel and buffy. he might have a disgusting soul, but she still wanted him. "god doesn't want you, but i still do."

[buffyholic]

Darla appears a little weak and not herself in the first two episodes of Buffy. In "Angel" she?s a totally different character. I think that?s because they were starting the show and maybe Darla was supposed to be only in season one. Because once she starts to become a regular, they really write her really well. In Ats, she is one of my favourite characters.

[Nina]

I like her mocking Buffy as well, but I never had the feeling that she was doing that ... not the whole time. When I tried to say that she behaved like that the whole time (not only when Angel was around), I was not talking about her clothes ... I was talking about her babyvoice when she was with the Master ... and the way she killed the guy was not very Darla-like ... or what abour siring Jesse ... not really a type for Darla, who was mocking Dru's choice to sire William. If she was behaving like that only around Angel, yes ... she would mock him. And I agree with Mogs that Bangel brings out the worst in Darla (Her pathetic 'she was just new!' in Dear Boy comes to mind). But Darla was bahaving like that the whole time and that is what annoys me, just like the clothes she also wore when Angel wasn't around.

[NileQT87]

if you'll note that a pattern of darla's is to go all out with every 'era' she comes into. she's an 18th century noblewoman, a gilmore girl (the victorian kind), has a kimono phase (which means that after china, angel must have seen darla in japan), etc... she reinvents herself and has phases. the schoolgirl thing was a phase were she was probably getting off on the look of innocence.

i don't think it was all about showing it to angel. she was also doing it for her own sense of self-worth. to feel desirable in the way angel wanted at that time. it wasn't just a show for him, but herself. i think it was a huge blow to her sense of self-image that angel was suddenly desiring the exact opposite of her--youth, purity, innocence, etc... if that's what angel was into, she wanted to turn herself into that ideal, while at the same time wanting angel to get over his new thing quickly, so she could have a shot at having him desire her.

angel didn't stop wanting darla after he got the soul. she was the only place that he had belonged for 145 years. that's why he followed her for 2 years. darla still hoped that, even if she rejected him and the soul, that he still wanted her. and clearly, darla gave him the option of coming back to her if he would just get rid of the buffy infatuation. that struck her pride and self-image where it hurt. the idea that angel could love buffy and not love her was her worst fear.

[Michael]

Darla is my favorite among the "bad" characters. She does not have a hard luck story like Angelus, or Spike or Dru. She has always been "bad" simply because the things that society and religion and law have designated as "bad" are the kind of things she likes to do. Far from being a slave to the devil I think Darla could get the devil to do what she wants. I wish she could have stuck around in BtVS for longer, even kicking Buffy's ass at least once in order to embarrass Angelus.

[NileQT87]

she has one of the biggest hard luck stories of all, imo!

we see her issues from her past as a disillusioned whore pop up again and again. she is extremely needy in terms of finding a soulmate, the desire to be loved even when she's never loved anything either, etc... she gets extremely jealous of angel choosing to love someone who is the complete antithesis of her--and it's because she feels insecure and self-conscious of it. she got mad at angelus when he chuckled at drusilla's calling her "grandmum".

she is afraid of mortality and death because, of all the vampires, she was the one who had been having to face it as a human--twice. first, she wants angel to "return the favor", and then, she is willing to go to just some random idiot vampire from 1992. she fears death until she understands love and caring.

Adam: You fear death. Being immortal, you fear it more than those to whom it comes naturally. Vampires are a paradox.

remember that it was darla that said that what they were as humans informs what they are as vampires. she was speaking from experience. her 'hard luck' issues are quite apparent if you think about it.

the saddest thing about her origin story is that she died with no one ever having loved or cared about her--that she was hyper-aware of being perceived as unworthy, the old thing or unwanted. that's what she was obsessed with as a vampire.

i believe julie benz or some of the writers have commented on how they perceived darla's human past as a whore--and it had a lot to do with setting up why her big issues were about not being loved or cared about in life. she didn't love or care about god because he had never loved or cared about her. it isn't about being something as superficially 'bad', it's about being wanted, loved and cared for.

did you ever notice that during most of her garb changes through the centuries, she always chose not the clothes of a whore, but of wealth and nobility? darla always demanded the trappings of wealth and prestige--she always had to have the view. she chose the handsome stud with the more 'pretty' human features over the age-old vampire who was supposed to be what a vampire was hoping to be someday--which means that darla still had strong ties to her human self. though, it's interesting to note that the master had a huge problem with jealousy--his remaining human aspect. he was even insecure about his appearance, despite the intellectual side of vampirism that he espoused.

darla was after respect, love and caring--darla wanted to matter to someone. that is why her change into a schoolgirl sticks out so much--instead of trying to attract with maturity and prestige, darla was trying to get someone back who was desiring purity, innocence and youth--all things she had a complex about not having BECAUSE of her human past.

when darla gave into her human death in the trial, it was because she was being truly cared about for the first time in her entire existence! she had an epiphany when angel was willing to give up his unlife for her life. it was the first time she had ever felt like she was worth something.

[ThePoet's<3]

Darla is a very undefined character in Season 1 - which is why she was killed off early. Very typical of a character who was meant to wreak havoc on the Scoobies, serve to make life a little difficult annd then be served up as canon-fodder. You were glad she died. That's the usual outline of a villian character.

Writers do not waste their time "fleshing out" the character - very little back-story because they are not going to be around for very long.

Luckily she was "resurrected" in Angel into a very deep character.

[NileQT87]

i still disagree. david greenwalt clearly had it written that darla was angel's sire and had brought him the gypsy girl. that right there opened her up to more stories, especially those dealing in flashbacks. well, darla was brought back before her resurrection in ats. she was brought back in becoming, pt. 1.

the episode angel was when she was turned into a deep character rather than fodder. and she was never quite fodder. she was a mirror image of buffy from the start--the blonde girl who seemed helpless, but was scarier than the guy who is thought to be the monster at the beginning of wtth.

they also used darla's schoolgirl persona to be the first element to what we learn about her jealousy of angel's affections for buffy. it wasn't just a throwaway element. they used it to formulate who the character was. the whole point was that darla was acting like something she wasn't and there was a reason for it.

her story in btvs season 1 did have future influence on her characterization. she wasn't undefined at all. greenwalt was already working on making darla and angel into bigger characters as early as btvs season 1. greenwalt saved her from being 'killed off early' (the harvest) and gave her a story that left future stories open. darla wasn't fodder in episode 1x07.

[Michael]

I regret to learn that Darla has a hard luck story. I am still looking for a villain I don't have to feel sorry for. I think this is the long term result of liberalism. the concept of villainy is on the way to abolition. My other point was that I thought Darla was a real knockout in her Catholic schoolgirl outfit.

[dinamo]

To me Darla in both shows wasn't quite what I imagined her to be. I wanted her to be stronger than Angel, she wasn't just a member of the Fanged Four with Angel/Spike/Drusilla, she'd been with the Master as well, she wasn't just some vampire off the street she was older than msot we saw and i wanted that reflected. i wanted her to be into clothes, and vain etc, but when the time called for it she could throw down with the best, and be a rival to all but those older than her and a slayer at her best. Personally I really liked Darla and liked her just accepting who she was, and not wanting to be saved or changed. She did everything she did knowingly and willingly and blamed no one else for things if it was her fault. She was out for herself and didn't pretend otherwise. I always thought she'd be a fantastic recurring adversary for Buffy. Someone who could have been physically strong, older than most vamps, cunning, force Buffy to fight a different fight, and be the foil to Buffy. The blonde pretty girl who didn't care about anyone but herself, who didn't want to save people who was worldy and wise and who had seen and done most things. Someone who had probably seen quite a few Buffys in her lifetime and had just walked on by and not given a stuff.

[NileQT87]

well, i like that she had more to do with angel than buffy. she was introduced as a reflection of buffy--darla was the original scary little blonde flipping expectations--but had her own separate drama going on that had to do more with angel. buffy was her rival, but not in the big bad villainy sense. her rivalry with buffy was about what the two of them each represented.

and i loved that darla's journey was not only finding someone who thought she was worthy enough to be cared about (the trial), but finally being able to love and care about someone herself (lullaby). that was the crux and meaning of her journey.

buffy is constantly used as a reflection of darla and drusilla.

buffy is shown having insecurities over what she thinks angel likes in girls--first she tries out the 18th century noblewoman and then tries to pry into angel's mind to see if he likes bad girls. darla is angel's ultimate bad girl--and she had the exact same insecurities buffy had with angel, except with the opposite personality traits that each represented. darla was insecure that she wasn't new enough; that she wasn't the pure, young innocent that angel seemed to want. with buffy, she feared that angel had had so many bad girls that she could never match up. buffy feared she couldn't match up to a worldly figure like darla and darla feared she couldn't make angel love her the way he loved buffy (see epiphany).

the fact that buffy and darla had two lines of dialog that were exactly the same at key moments in angel's journey is meant to show their correlation--"close your eyes" and "was it me? was i not good?"/"was i... was it... not good?" you've got the good girl who just lost her virginity and is unsure of herself--the one who angel truly loved so much he lost his soul... and a former whore also unsure of herself--the one who angel is unable to love and was unable to make angel lose his soul. they are two sides of the same coin in their insecurities. darla and buffy are both afraid that angel would like them more if they were more like the other.

and of course, drusilla was angelus' template (killing her loved ones and then the final destruction of a human being) for what he desired to do to buffy. buffy and drusilla were both pure, young, chaste innocents that had misunderstood callings. the link between the two is outlined clearly in lie to me.

[buffyholic]

Darla returned in Ats to flesh out Angel?s character some more, because Darla was the one who sired Angel, so that gave a lot more interesting ideas and a way to flesh out more Darla too. In BTVS she was only presented as Angel?s sire. It was in Ats that the writers took more advantage of that!

[kassyopeia]

Hmmm, I'm undecided. Nile makes some excellent points, and on reflection I do agree that the Darla in the episode "Angel" isn't all that far from the character later established in flashbacks. I never had a problem with her dressing as a schoolgirl, it fits perfectly with both her desire to blend into the culture in which she's currently living, which we don't see most other old vampires attempting, and with the playfulness that is one of her defining characteristics.
The same goes for her human scenes in the pilot. However, her vampire scenes (with Buffy, with the Master, at the Bronze) still don't work for me: She's coming off as decidedly pathetic in each instance. And while, yes, Angel does occasionally rattle her, and while she certainly would feel both afraid of and deferential towards the Master, that's just not the way I'd expect the character as established later on to act in these situations.

what abour siring Jesse ... not really a type for Darla, who was mocking Dru's choice to sire William.

I think you're confusing things here, Nina. Jesse wasn't turned for his sake, but to set a trap for Buffy. We don't know who actually sired him, only that the Master made the decision to have him sired. Unless I completely misunderstood something.

[NileQT87]

darla didn't sire jesse. she was just bringing the master an easy target snack. darla didn't see jesse as much more than snackfood. it was the master who decided to use him as bait because the slayer knew him. and then it appears that luke sort of took over jesse's set-up as bait (and probably sired him). darla got in trouble for feeding on jesse on the way over and giving the master scraps like a faithful dog.

jesse was little more than an easy target victim who darla didn't even have to manhandle to get to come right to the master. he was following her even when she bit him for a snack. darla certainly wouldn't have sired him or thought him worthy as a companion. that wasn't his purpose.

in fact, darla was pretty much rolling her eyes when thomas asked her where her gift for the master was--darla perceived jesse as pretty dumb. that was sort of the point of why she picked him. when darla wants to manipulate someone with the most little amount of work possible, she picks somebody who is really dumb. hence, why she picked up jesse to feed the master and tried to get the mullet vampire from 1992 to sire her.

Darla: I wasn't *in* any danger, Angelus. Believe me, I picked a stupid one. I always pick the stupid ones. Didn't you know that? I can take care of myself.