Somnambulist - 1ADH11
Written by Tim Minear - Directed by Rick Kolbe - First Aired on January 18, 2000
Synopsis -
Creature Feature -
Cool Quotes -
References -
Continuity -
Goofs -
Trivia -
The Morgue -
Cast -
Famous Faces -
Points Of View
Synopsis
The Short: From the WB11 home
page: A girl is murdered by a vampire during the early morning hours.
Later that day, Wesley notices an article about the murder in the newspaper
and leaves immediately. Angel pays a visit to Kate about some other
business, but while he is there, he observes the crime scene photos on her
desk. He recognizes the modus operandi, and immediately realizes that there
is a connection between his recent nightmares and the murders. Meanwhile,
Wesley returns to Angel Investigations and clues Cordelia in on the
situation at hand. He tells her in the past, Angelus marked his victims'
left cheek with a cross. That night, Angel has a dream. He realizes one of
his sires named Penn is responsible for the current murders. That afternoon,
Angel brings a drawing of Penn to Kate and instructs her to stake out an
area. Later that day, Penn strikes, but before he can complete the kill, the
police arrive. Penn escapes in a nearby abandoned building. Kate comes in
after him and soon finds Angel at the scene. He dons his vampire face and
the two begin to fight. After learning Angel's true identity, Kate initially
freaks out, but then hits the library to learn more about vampires. She
discovers that Penn struck two times in L.A. earlier that century, in 1928 and
1963. Wesley and Angel figure out where he resides and pay a visit to his
apartment. Meanwhile, Penn pays a surprise visit to the police department.
Angel catches wind of the situation climbs down into the tunnels and gets
into a big brawl with Penn. However, it's Kate who saves the day when she
locates a wood scrap and stakes Angel and Penn. Due to her great aim, only
Penn is dusted.
The Long: After a ''previously on Angel'' segment (see Continuity #1) we get a view of the full moon reflected in
a puddle of water, a woman runs in an alley, looking behind her. A man
catches up with her and bears his fangs. He carves a cross in her cheek and
drains her. Angel raises his head and snarls, then changes back to human
form and awakens in his bed. Meanwhile police cars with Kate show up on the
murder scene and she checks out the body. She says this makes three. The
opening credits roll. (Listen to the teaser here.)
At Angel Investigations Cordelia is practicing the ''hard sell'' on a chair as
Wesley walks in to compare notes and bring in the mail. It seems the demon
scene in Los Angeles is rather slow. Wesley comments on how well they worked together
against the Empathy demon (see Continuity #2). The mail is actually that of their neighbor, and
as Wesley goes to take it back an article in the newspaper catches his eye
and he leaves. Angel walks in and is very tired. He asks Cordelia
about a license plate she was supposed to look up. She asks Angel to see if
Kate can help (see Reference #1). Angel is so out of it he almost walks out in daylight before
he realizes what he is doing. Meanwhile Wesley is shown spying on them.
At the police station Kate says she will look up the license. She says she
is working on a case about a serial killer. Angel recognizes the photos as
the victims from his dreams. Angel leaves and Kate goes to give a probable
profile on the killer to other police, which is surprisingly similar to a
profile of Angel himself, although she doesn't realize it (see
Cool Quote #1). As she speaks
they show Angel walking around the city where he notices a girl who looks
like Buffy. Back at the office Wesley walks in on Cordelia with a stake and
a file on Angel's past (see Continuity #3). He tells Cordelia that the way the victim was marked was
similar to the way Angel used to kill. Cordelia defends Angel and tells
Wesley to leave, but then Angel walks in and says Wesley is right. They quickly turn on Angel, but Angel explains he had
been having rather pleasant
killing dreams of the murders. Wesley suggests he is sleepwalking. They
agree to chain Angel up that night, so they can see if there is another
death. Wesley watches Angel as Cordelia goes home. Angel dreams of a woman
in the past who he hunted, then wakes to find Cordelia walking in. She
happily announces there was another murder. As Wesley goes to unlock Angel,
Angel says he did do it, shocking them both.
Back in the past from Angel's dream, we find Angel and a newborn vampire
standing over the body. The new vampire was the one who killed the girl, his
sister. They plan to kill the rest of his family (see Goof #1). In the present in an
apartment the same vampire collects newspaper articles for his wall that report
his killings. At Angel's place Angel tells Cordelia and Wesley about how he
instructed the vampire years ago (see Reference #2-#4).
They are worried Kate will find him first, not be able to stop
him and get herself killed. Angel shows up at the station to talk to Kate.
He talks to her privately. Angel realizes the killer is recreating the
killing spree he and Angel went on years ago (see Goof #2). Angel asks if she trusts him
and gives her a drawing of the vampire, but won't tell her how he got it. Then
he describes how the next killing will happen. Angel leaves with Wesley
waiting in the car. They set up a stolen police radio to listen in on the
search, and plan to follow the police. Outside a liquor store a teenage boy
tries to get people to buy beer for him. He approaches the killer. The
killer takes him into an alley and attacks, but police interrupt before he
can finish. The killer jumps into a building. Angel hears of it on the radio
and rushes to the scene. Kate shows up and goes into the building. Angel
sees this and climbs secretly into the building himself. In the building
Kate finds the killer and shoots him three times in the chest. She moves to
inspect the body and although he seems dead he jumps up and attacks her.
Angel falls in and is immediately recognized as Angelus by the killer. They
were to meet in Italy, but Angel says he was held up in Romania by gypsies
(see Continuity #4).
The killer offers to share drinking Kate's blood, but Angel says he's here
to kill him. Angel vamps out and they fight. Kate sees everything, including the
vamping out! The killer wonders what happened to Angel, why he cares about
this woman (see Goof #3). Angel is thrown into Kate, and
the killer escapes. Kate stares dumbfounded at
Angel in vampire face.
At the crime scene the police are taking pictures as Kate deals with Angel.
She doesn't believe what she saw. Angel tries to convince her by holding a
cross she is wearing causing his hand to smoulder. In the police
headquarters Kate looks up past killers with the same modus operandi. At Angel
Investigations Cordelia is giving the ''hard sell'' to a customer. While
talking to him she mentions Kate's name, then realizes he is a vampire and
the killer they are looking for (see Reference #5). He
says he can kill her, but she pulls up a shade and he has to duck in a
corner. Angel walks in and asks Cordelia for a stake (see
Reference #6). They talk and Angel apologizes for turning
him into a vampire, but as he goes to stake the vampire, named Penn, Wesley walks
in a becomes Penn's hostage (see Reference #7). Penn
tells him to think of the worst possible thing he can imagine and he will be
there. A musical interlude shows Kate looking up
info on Angel's past in an
occult book store, Angel searching for Penn, and Penn planning his next
crime. Angel shows up at Kate's home, but she refuses to invite him in.
She says the killer was in Los Angeles twice before, and once in Boston (see Reference #8). She also
reveals she looked up Angelus in some occult books. Kate blames Angel for
all the deaths, and tells him that after she stakes the killer she will
stake Angel. At the office Angel, Cordelia and Wesley are looking up the
previous visits to Los Angeles by Penn. Seeing pictures of the places the killer
stayed the last two times he was in Los Angeles they realize it was the same place
with a different name. That place still exist under yet a third name, Angel
and Wesley investigate. They discover evidence at the apartment that Penn
plans to kill a school bus full of children (see Goof #4).
At police headquarters Kate plans to find the killer by following Angel. As
Kate passes out a sketch of the killer, someone blurts out that it is a
terrible likeness. Kate realizes the killer is among them and the police
try to jump him. They don't stand a chance and as Kate tries to pull a stake
out he grabs her. Angel and Welsey drive in the parking lot of the police
station and hear the commotion. They realize Penn tried to put them off his
trail with a false lead. Angel jumps through a sewer cover to follow
Kate and Penn. Penn drags Kate around the sewers and vamps out, intending
to make her a vampire so Angel has to kill her. Angel walks in on them and
Kate reaches for some holy water and splashes it on Penn's face. Angel and
Penn fight and exchange taunts. Penn gets the upper hand in the fight and
pins Angel between him and Kate, who finds a long sharp piece of wood to
stake him with. Kate thrusts the wood through Angel's stomach at an angle so
it pierces Penn's heart but only wounds Angel. Angel says she missed, but
she says she didn't. Later that day Angel is being broody on the top of his
building and Cordelia shows up saying she had a
vision. She then consoles
him telling him he's changed from the man who made Penn a vampire. He warns
people sometimes change back, and Cordelia quickly says she
would kill him dead, what are friends for?
Creature Feature
Angel states that he has a link with those he sired. This link lead to him
seeing through the eyes of Penn while he was sleeping. Penn
displayed superhuman speed and agility, more so then just about any vampire
depicted so far. He also is seen making incredible leaps. Angel displays
great climbing ability.
One odd thing is that Wesley tries to invite Angel into Penn's hotel room.
First is was a public accommodation, so there is no need for an invite,
secondly it was the home of a vampire, who is technically dead, and thirdly
only a resident can do the inviting into a home for a vampire. How is it
a Watcher like Wesley didn't know this?
Cool Quotes
- Kate: ''Our suspect will be a white male. To the observer he
will not seem a monster. His victims put up little or no struggle, so it's
likely that he is charming, attractive, but at his core he is a loner.
Possibly a dual personality, who once the crime has been committed,
retains no memory of the act. He will not view his victims as subhuman,
rather it's himself that he views as something other than human, more than
human, a superior species. Stalking his prey, getting to
know them. It's unlikely that he'll be married though
he may have recently come off a long-term relationship that ended
badly. We look for a precipitating event in cases such as this, and a
painful breakup is always at the top of the list.
Prior to failing this relationship may have marked an inactive period
in our suspects life. He would have regarded it as a lifeline, his
salvation, but
once ended, it resulted in his recidivism. What is not in question
is his experience. He's been doing this for a very long time, and he will do
it again.''
So I guess Kate used to watch Buffy The Vampire Slayer? Listen to the quote here.
References
- Cordelia: ''No go, D.M.V. is totally stalker-phobic.''
The D.M.V. is the Department of Motor Vehicles, which issues vehicle licenses
for automobiles.
- Angel: ''I taught him well.''
Cordelia: '' A real Psycho-Wan Kenobi.''
Psycho is a 1960 film starring
Anthony Perkins as
Norman Bates, a mild mannered motel owner who kills unsuspecting women.
Plot: Phoenix office worker Marion Crane is fed up with the way life has
treated her. She has to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and they cannot
get married because Sam has to give most of his money away in alimony. One
Friday Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 by her employer. Seeing the
opportunity to take the money and start a new life, Marion leaves town and
heads towards Sam's California store. Tired after the long drive and caught
in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into the Bates Motel.
The motel is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be
dominated by his mother.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Sir
Alec Guinness, was the teacher of Luke Skywalker in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV - A New
Hope. Plot: Farm boy Luke Skywalker finds more than he bargained for when
he gains possession of two androids, who lead him on the adventure of his
life to save a beautiful princess, befriend a devil-may-care space smuggler,
and save the galaxy from the evil clutches of Darth Vader. Tutored by the
mysterious Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke must learn the ways of the Force.
- Cordelia ''No lie, Gallagher's changed his act more times then
this dude has in the last two centuries. Why do you
think he's still doing the same old schtick?''
Wesley: ''Well, I mean, it's a classic, isn't it? Every time he
smashes that watermelon with a sledgehammer I just...''
Gallagher is a stand-up comedian who is famous for his rather messy physical
comedy, including the smashing of a watermelon with a large hammer called
the Sledge-O-Matic on stage.
- Wesley: ''You'd be locked up faster then Lady Hamilton's
virtue.''
Lady Hamilton, wife of Sir William Hamilton, was born Emma Hart (1765-1815),
a woman of great beauty and charm who rose from humble origins to
international fame. Emma attracted the attention of Lord Horatio Nelson,
with whom she had a notorious romantic liaison until his death at the Battle
of Trafalgar. Although she inherited money from both Hamilton and Nelson,
her extravagance led her into debt, and she died in poverty. Depicted here
in a 1782 painting by George Romney.
- Cordelia: ''Oh crap, you're him, he, the guy, Apt
Pupil-boy.''
Apt Pupil was is a book written
by Stephen King in 1982. It was made into a film in 1998. It concerned a
boy who discovers a Nazi war criminal in his neighborhood and forces him to
tell him stories of the concentration camps.
- Penn: ''Well, look who's back from his Up With People meeting.''
Up With People is a non-profit organization in which a group of students
travel around the world for a year spreading friendship and understanding
through educational musical performances. They have a web site at http://www.upwithpeople.org/. Also
referenced by Xander in The
Zeppo.
(Thanks to the BuffyGuide for this entry.)
- Penn: ''Oh, oh I understand. I was a Puritan
remember?''
The Puritans were an off shoot of the Protestants in the 16th and 17th
centuries who wanted simpler forms of church ceremony and strictness and
gravity in behavior.
- Kate: ''Want to quiz me? I'm just full of fun facts. For instance, I learned that your friend has been in Los Angeles before, did you know that? Yeah, at least twice. Once in 1929 and again in 1963. Oh and there is something in Boston in 1908. I think he was there, too.''
Boston has it's own official web site at http://www.boston.gov.
Continuity
- Angel: ''Previously on Angel.''
Parting Gifts - Angel learns Cordelia can have
visions, which she says was passed on to her when Doyle kissed her. Wesley
becomes a rogue demon hunter and introduces himself to Angel and Cordelia.
- Wesley: ''Quiet all around then. Well, I'll keep myself
available. The situation can only escalate. We made a most effective team, I
felt. Vanquishing that empathy demon in such short order.''
Cordelia: ''Yeah, well, nobody gauged out my eyes, so
I'm happy.''
Parting Gifts - Barney the Empath demon tried to
sell Cordelia's eyes at an auction. Angel and Wesley tracked the auction
down and during the fight Cordelia slew Barney.
- Wesley: ''I think you better sit down. While executing my
duties as Watcher in Sunnydale, I did extensive research. Specifically on
Angel, given his uncomfortable proximity to the Slayer.''
Bad Girls - Wesley was assigned to be Watcher for Buffy and Faith after
Rupert Giles had been fired from the position.
Graduation Day Part 2 - Wesley left Sunnydale after one of his Slayers had
quit and the other was in a coma in the hospital.
- Angel: ''Got held up in Romania.''
Penn: ''Romania? What's in Romania?''
Angel: ''Gypsies.''
Angel &
Becoming
Part 1 - Angel's run in with gypsies in Romania was first described in
Angel and depicted in a flashback in Becoming Part 1.
Goofs
- Okay, this may be a little nit-picky, but when Penn and Angel are
standing over the dead body in the flashback, they not only
are breathing very heavily (as usual) but you can see their breath, because
it's so cold. This is a bit of a contradiction with the established
facts that vampires have no body heat and don't breath. Then again they
probably both recently drank some hot blood, and they always breath on the
show.
- There is a little problem with Angel's explanation of the killing spree
Penn went on. Angel says he was recreating the killing spree from when Penn
was sired, but the first victim in Los Angeles was a male crossing guard. When they
flash back to Penn's first killing it was his sister, in a death that looked
more like the third killing in Los Angeles.
- During the first fight between Angel and Penn, Penn grabs Angel by the
shirt at one point. During a camera angle change the hand is suddenly
not holding the shirt, but Angel's coat instead.
- When Angel picks up the pictures of the school bus off Penn's table
you can see his reflection in the glossy finish, but he shouldn't have
a reflection, being a vampire.
Trivia
The Morgue
- Jessica Halprin: In an alley, drained by Penn.
- Penn's sister: In an alley, drained by Penn in a flashback to 1800.
- Penn: In the sewers, staked by Kate Lockley.
Note: Penn had killed two people just before the episode started. Reggie
Sparks and Jinny Markem. Penn killed one person off camera the night Angel
was chained to the bed.
Cast
Starring:
David Boreanaz as Angel
Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndham-Pryce
Guest Starring:
Elisabeth Rohm as Detective Kate Lockley
Jeremy Renner as Penn
Co-Starring:
Nick McCallum as the Skateboard Kid
Kimberleigh Aarn as the Prectinct Clerk (Chris)
Paul Webster as Uniform #1
Brian DiRito as Task Force Member #1
Maury Sterling as Barney (Uncredited, voice heard in flashback to Parting Gifts.)
Famous Faces
Jeremy Renner, who played Penn, would go on to appear in a Duracell battery commercial. He has his own web site at http://www.jeremyrenner.com/.
Points Of View
Mathew:
Was I the only one who watched this show with the sneaking thought that
it was written for Dru? At least to me if felt like Juliet Landau was not
available, so they made up another dream influencing, religious psycho vamp
Angel sired for this ep. I was glad to see Cordelia giving Wesley the cold
shoulder and Kate not be so accepting to Angel's past as most others had
been. Penn out fighting Angel at every encounter was refreshing, Angel had
become too unbeatable for my taste. What I didn't like was how long it took
Cordelia to figure Penn out and her stake comment. She's smarter then that.
I'm glad she did open the window shade, shocking Penn with her
resourcefulness. He was probably not used to fighting people who knew about
vampires. Now if we can just get rid of Wesley, things will look a lot
better. Maybe Kate or Harry can take his place.
Page by Webmaster Mathew - March, 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.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Sir
Alec Guinness, was the teacher of Luke Skywalker in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV - A New
Hope. Plot: Farm boy Luke Skywalker finds more than he bargained for when
he gains possession of two androids, who lead him on the adventure of his
life to save a beautiful princess, befriend a devil-may-care space smuggler,
and save the galaxy from the evil clutches of Darth Vader. Tutored by the
mysterious Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke must learn the ways of the Force.
