''There's not a single demon left in L.A., just a whole army of them. Now protecting the innocent will demand the ultimate test of courage.''


Angel Hero - 1ADH09

Written by Howard Gordon and Tim Minear - Directed by Tucker Gates - First Aired on November 30, 1999

Synopsis - Creature Feature - Cool Quotes - References - Continuity - Goofs - Trivia - The Morgue - Cast - Famous Faces - Points Of View

Synopsis

Kiss The Short: From the
WB11 home page: The Death of Doyle. Angel tells Doyle of his human experience, and meeting the Powers That Be, but Doyle doesn't have much time to react because work beckons. They soon find a group of half-breed demons and learn the demon racist group, The Scourge, are in town and out for blood. They conspire to rescue the half-demons: Angel goes undercover for the Scourge, and Cordelia and Doyle arrange the half-demons' safe passage to an island. When one of the half demons runs away, Doyle follows him and this delays the departure. While Doyle is away, Cordelia learns of his true identity. Meanwhile, on the inside, Angel learns the strategy to eliminate the half-demon breed population: The Scourge have built a machine whose rays can wipe out any human within a 1/4 mile radius. Angel soon escapes the Scourge and goes to the ship to warn Doyle and Cordelia. He is followed by the soldiers, who place the deadly machine on the ship. With the lives of dozens in jeopardy, Angel and Doyle realize that one of them will have to die in order to disconnect the beams. Though Angel protests, Doyle decides to make the sacrifice. He engages Cordelia in a passionate embrace, then meets the machine. He successfully disconnects it, then dies.

The Long: After a ''Previously on Angel'' segment (see Continuity #1) we at Angel Investigations open on Cordelia pitching a commercial for the company to Angel, but he doesn't want to do it (see Reference #1-#3). Angel goes to his apartment as Doyle walks in and agrees that they shouldn't advertise because Angel is a vampire and they have no license. Cordelia insists that Angel is depressed because Buffy visited and they need some evil to fight to cheer him up (see Continuity #2). She decides that maybe Doyle would be good for the commercial, but he is wary of acting (see Reference #4). (Listen to the teaser here.)

Unfinished.

Creature Feature

The victims of this episode are a loose band of Lister demons. They appear to be humans with gray skin and strange ridges on their faces. It is uncertain if all Lister demons are consider half-breeds, or just those in this group.

Elder Lister Rieff Rayna


The villains of this episode are the Scourge, a group of ''pureblood demons'' who hunt ''half-breed demons.'' Their tactics, dress and even vehicles are very similar to that of the stereotypical World War II German military. The Scourge is lead by the charismatic demon named Tiernan, who motivates the other demons to the Scourge's cause.

Tiernan Demon 1 Demon 2

Demon 3 Demon 4 Demon 5


Lucas We see that there is a clan of Brachen demons that all seem to be half-breed demons. We learn that Brachen demons can dislocate their neck. They also are reputed to have a good sense of direction.

Cool Quotes

  1. Doyle: ''Come on, you lived and loved and lost and fought and vanquished inside a day, and I'm still trying to work up the courage to ask Cordy out for dinner, not to mention the part about telling her that I'm half demon. That should probably come first, huh?''
    Doyle pretty much sums it up. Listen to the quote
    here.

    Cordelia
  2. Cordelia: ''While this may look like a popular brand of breath freshener it's really a cunningly disguised demon repellent!''
    Elder Lister demon: ''Wintergreen?!''
    Ever resourceful Cordelia. Listen to the quote here.

  3. Trask: ''Welcome to a cleaner world. Soon only the pure will be left standing.''
    Angel: ''Actually, pure boy, you'll be on your ass.''
    Snap! Listen to the quote here.


References

    Patrick Stewart
  1. Cordelia: ''We hear a narrator, preferably famous. Maybe that bald Star Trek guy or one of the cheaper Baldwins...''
    The bald Star Trek guy is probably Patrick Stewart who played Captain Jean Luke Picard in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

    Two Baldwins The Baldwins are Long Island, New York, handsome-actor siblings. Most renowned of the four is the sardonic hunk Alec (b. 1958), whose marriage with troubled actress Kim Basinger has been as headline-prone as his political activity (voluble animal rights buff, Democrat) or his reasonably solid career (Glengarry Glen Ross [1992], Malice [1993], Heaven's Prisoners [1996] The Ghosts of Mississippi [1996]). In March 1996 Alec was acquitted of battery charges brought against him by Alan Zanger, a celebrity photographer whom Baldwin attempted, in October 1995, to prevent from videotaping the Basinger-Baldwins with their new-born daughter, Ireland. Former Calvin Klein model William (b. 1963) can often be insufferably smug, as in the Sharon Stone dud Sliver (1993), although he showed considerably more charm in his highly visible role with the Creative Coalition, an entertainment-community advocacy group, during the 1996 Republican and Democrat National Conventions. Stephen (b. 1967), the pup of the litter, is also a former Klein mannequin, but is only sporadically employed as an actor (he graced 1994's bisexuality dud Threesome and the summer diversion Fled [1996], with Laurence Fishbourne). Last in looks, but not in talent, is Daniel (b. 1961), a stoic cast member of the gutsy television drama Homicide for three seasons until he left in June 1995. He went on to appear in Steve Buscemi's well-received, pathos-tinged, suburban nightmare Trees Lounge (1996).

  2. Cordelia: ''I know, it's perfect! We can do it ourselves on High 8. I'll charm a post-production house into doing the effects and...''
    Hi-8 is a videotape format used by SONY and others. It records on an 8 millimeter videotape and the technical signal is of the Y/C variety. Which, just like S-VHS separates the video signal into individual luminance and chrominance signals for better resolution and color fidelity than you'd get using regular 8mm or VHS. High 8 is a camcorder tape medium, a technology rapidly outstripped by digital formats. (Thanks to Melissa Evans for this information.)

    Adding Machine
  3. Cordelia: ''Look, I know a little something about self-promotion, Angel, and I'm telling you one commercial like this could get us out of the red, or the black, or which ever one means we're broke, because that's us.''
    The use of red and black as accounting terms goes back to adding machines that used red and black ink to denote negative and positive numbers. Being in the red means you owe money.

    Braveheart
  4. Cordelia: ''He is a larger-than-life character, way too Braveheart for Joe-Couch-potato to relate to.''
    Braveheart is a 1995 film starring Mel Gibson as William Walace. Plot: A partly historical, partly mythological, story of William Wallace, a Scottish common man who fights for his country's freedom from English rule around the end of the 13th century.

    The Man With Two Brains
  5. Cordelia: ''Oh, Uh, I know this one! Ah, mask - mask head, ah, The Man With Two Brains!'
    The Man With Two Brains is a 1983 comedy film starring Steve Martin as Dr. Michael Hfuhtuhurr, a brain surgeon. Plot: Recently widowed Doctor Michael Hfuhruhurr, the world's greatest neurosurgeon, injures Dolores Benedict in a car accident. He operates on her and saves her life using a technique of his own invention: cranial screw-top brain entry. As Benedict recovers, Hfuhruhurr falls in love with her and they are soon married. However, Benedict is only interested in Hfuhruhurr's money and Hfuhruhurr still yearns for his previous wife. They travel to Vienna to attend a medical conference where Hfuhruhurr finally divorces Dolores, meets a mysterious Doctor Alfred Necessiter and becomes entangled in a series of murders committed by The Elevator Killer.

  6. Cordelia: ''So, we're booking them on a cruise?''
    Doyle: ''Basically, yeah.''
    Cordelia: ''I'm guessing not Carnival.''
    Carnival is a line of cruise ships. They have a web page at http://www.carnivalcorp.com/.

  7. Doyle: ''Yeah, okay. You know what, we ought to go. Angel's got a way out, a ship.''
    Rieff: ''Great. Have fun. Take some Dramamine.
    Dramamine is a medicine used to treat seasickness.

    Love Boat
  8. Cordelia: ''Well, it's not exactly the Love Boat, is it?''
    The Love Boat was a television series from 1977 about people finding love on a cruise ship in the Pacific ocean.


Continuity

  1. Angel: ''Previously on Angel.''
    I Will Remember You - Buffy feels Angel's heart beat. Angel fights a Mohra demon, talks to the Oracles about it.
    Rm w/a Vu - Doyle mentions Cordelia is really something. Cordelia hugs Doyle.
    Lonely Hearts - Angel tells him to ask her out himself. Doyle says not to mention him being half-demon. Cordelia tells Doyle there is nothing more disgusting then a demon. Doyle plays with Cordelia's bra.
    City Of - Doyle sneezes and turns to demon face. Doyle says we all have something to atone for.
    Bachelor Party - Cordelia considers that Doyle may have hidden depths and tells him he is a nice guy.

    Buffy
  2. Cordelia: ''So what? Buffy blows in to town and puts you into a permanent funk and I'm just supposed to stand by and watch our business go belly up?''
    I Will Remember You - Several mentions of Buffy's visit and the time alteration that took place during Buffy's visit.

    Harry
  3. Doyle: ''Believe me I know. Last time I saw my ex, she was around for five minutes and I was a wreck for days. Amazing how they can do that to you.''
    Bachelor Party - Doyle mentions his former wife, Harry, last seen when she broke off her engagement with her perspective second husband Richard.


Goofs

  1. When Angel grabs the bike to make his escape from the Scourge, he is wearing one of their uniforms, but when he arrives at the ship with them right behind him, he's not wearing it. He makes a point about how little time they have, but he stopped to change his clothes?


Trivia

  • You can download audio clips from this episode at http://www.glennquinn.com/multimedia/audio/angel_hero.html.

  • The opening sequence commercial Cordelia describes for Angel Investicgations was actually part of the script for the unfinished Angel episode Corrupt.

    Marcus Kevin West
  • During the first broadcast of this episode, they showed the 7 Up commercial with Kevin West, who played Marcus the vampire in In The Dark.

  • We learn Doyle is a Brachen demon.

  • New names for Angel: The Dark Avenger (by Cordelia) and The Promised One (by the elder Lister demon).


  • The Morgue

      Death
    1. The first mate: In the Scourge headquarters, disintegrated by the beacon.
    2. Trask: In the ship's hold, neck snapped by Angel.
    3. Allen Francis Doyle: In the ship, disintegrated by the beacon.


    Cast

    Starring:
    Angel David Boreanaz as Angel
    Cordelia Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
    Doyle Glenn Quinn as Allen Francis Doyle

    Guest Starring:
    Rieff Tony Denman as Rieff
    Trask Anthony Cistaro as Trask
    Rayna Michelle Horn as Rayna
    Tiernan Lee Arenberg as Tiernan
    Lucas Sean Gunn as Lucas

    Co-Starring:
    Elder Lister James Henriksen as the Elder Lister Demon
    Inspector David Bickford as the Cargo Inspector
    Coming soon! Christopher Comes as Storm Trooper #2
    Captain Paul O'Brien as the Captain
    First Mate Ashley Taylor as the First Mate
    Orcales Carry Cannon as the Female Oracle (Left, uncredited, appeared in flashback from I Will Remember You.)
    Orcales Randall Slavin as the Male Oracle (Right, uncredited, appeared in flashback from I Will Remember You.)
    Buffy Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Anne Summers (Uncredited, appeared in flashback from I Will Remember You.)
    Mohra #2 Chris Durands as Mohra Demon #2 (Uncredited, appeared in flashback from I Will Remember You.)


    Famous Faces

    Commander Anthony Cistaro, who played Trask, has a web page from Harvard FAS at http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~art/institute/cistaro.html.

    Saghi Rayna Michelle Horn, who played Rayna, played the part of Saghi in several episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

    Elwood Tiernan Lee Arenberg, who played Tiernan, played Gral in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode The Nagus 1.11, Daimon Prak in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Force of Nature 7.09, Daimon Bok in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Bloodlines 7.22 and Pelk in the Star Trek : Voyager episode Juggernaut 5.20. He also appeared as Elwood Gutworthy in the 2000 film Dungeons & Dragons. Lee has an official web site at http://www.leearenberg.com/.

    Alien Orphan Kirk Sean Gunn, who played Lucas, appeared as Kirk in season 1 of Gilmore Girls and was the Alien Orphan in the 2000 comedy film The Specials.

    Captain Paul O'Brien, who played the Captain, played Geral in the Star Trek: Voyager episode Nightingale 7.08.

    Points Of View

    Mathew:

    Definitely a mixture of the best and the worst in this episode. Doyle's death was bad enough, but the Scourge were over the top with the way they parodied Nazi's. I guess Angel wished he had kept the Gem of Amara around, then he could have stopped the machine without losing Doyle!

    7 out of 10




    Page by Webmaster Mathew - February, 2002

    Special thanks to The Complete Buffy Episode Guide for inspiration and technical help, as well as Buffy episode links and all the readers of the Watcher's Diary for their feedback in making this page what it is.

    - Back to the front page.-


    Made on 
Amiga