War Zone - 1ADH20
Written by Garry Campbell - Directed by David Straiton - First Aired on May 9, 2000
Synopsis -
Creature Feature -
Cool Quotes -
References -
Continuity -
Goofs -
Trivia -
The Morgue -
Cast -
Famous Faces -
Points Of View
Synopsis
The Short: Angel and crew are hired to track down a blackmailer
who is trying to extort money from millionaire David Nabbit. While tracking
the blackmailer, Angel gets caught in a war between a street gang led
by a young man named Gunn and a band of vampires. Angel makes a deal to
send the vampires packing while saving the lives of most of the gang.
The Long: (see Continuity #1) A young girl walks
down a dark alley in the middle of the
night, looking over her shoulder nervously. She hears sounds, but keeps
moving. Three men turn the corner behind her and start to follow her
closely. She turns to face them, only to see vampires growling at her.
Someone walks up behind the vampires with a dark outfit and sword, the
vampires recognize him, as a truck loaded with other men
with anti-vampire weapons pulls up behind him.
Angel, Cordelia and Wesley show up an a high cost party to meet a client
(see Cool Quotes #1 & Reference #1). The client turns out to be a socially
inept software billionaire named David Nabbit. Together with some friends,
he visited a demonic brothel, but unwittingly had pictures taken of him in
a compromising situation with a demon lady of the evening (see Reference #2). He has a picture of the man blackmailing him,
Lenny Edwards, but can't find him. David wants Angel to get the pictures
back. In the alley the gang of vampire hunters and a group
of vampires are fighting. Several vampires and one gang member are
killed and one gang member is wounded severely before the five remaining
vampires run off, with a gang member following them. The gang grab their
wounded, get in the truck and head back to their home, a fortified building.
Inside the building Bobby, the wounded gang member dies. The gang leader
asks a gang member, James, how they are set up for the night, and he says
they have squatters, who the leader insists they feed and give shelter for
the night. At Madam Dorian's, the demon brothel, Angel walks in and is
immediately spotted as a vampire by Madam Dorian. He tells her one of her
clients is being blackmailed with pictures taken there, and how if word got
out it would be bad for business. Madam Dorian calls out Lena, the demon of
serviced David, and tells her to cooperate with Angel (see Continuity #2). At the gang
headquarters the girl tells the gang leader, Gunn, that they are dying and
he is getting reckless. A gang member, Chain, shows up saying the vampire
led him straight to their nest. Then another member shows up saying a
vampire is moving rooftop to rooftop coming near them fast. They go to check
it out. On the street Angel sneaks up behind Lenny, telling him he is taking
over and that he wants the pictures, showing his vampire face. Gunn sees this
and thinks Angel is moving in on the neighborhood.
At David's place Cordelia and Wesley accept a check for their expenses
in tracking down Lenny. They are shocked to see David has given them so
much, but David says he pays well for people who do good work, and
they were the only people who even talked to him at the party. That night
Lenny waits to give the pictures to Angel, but as Angel approaches a demon
hired by Lenny jumps Angel. During the fight Angel is able to grab the
pictures and then snaps the demons's neck. Angel is still recovering
when the gang's truck shows up and launches a stake in Angel's back, barely
missing his heart. Angel pulls it out and runs, being chased by the gang.
Angel ducks in a building, but discovers a number of traps have been set.
The gang attack, until he grabs the girl, Alonna, holding
her hostage. When a stray crossbow bolt nearly hits Alonna, Angel
moves his hand to take it instead. This shocks the gang. Angel says he is
impressed by them. He tries to ally himself with them, but they let him go
warning him not to return. The next day at Angel Investigations Cordelia
patches up Angel as they look over the pictures (see Reference #3). Angel says he wants to find the vampire nest.
Wesley sets out to find the gang. At the nest the leader vampire gives a pep
talk to his vampires, during which he stakes one of his own. At the gang
headquarters Gunn argues with Alonna and James as whether to trust Angel.
Angel finds the nest, but it is empty except for one guard vampire, who he
questions. At the gang headquarters Alonna and Gunn talk as canisters of gas
are throne in from daylight outside. He suspects a vampire attack, so he
orders his people out into the daylight where they would be safe. Gunn
realizes no one is attacking and that they were set up. A van pulls up
quickly and men in dark suits and masks grab Alonna. Gunn jumps on the back
of the van and sees vampires inside feed on Alonna before being knocked off.
Cordelia and Wesley are out in the car looking for the gang headquarters. At
the headquarters Angel grabs a guard and forces him to ask him in. Inside he
confronts Gunn, then offers his help, but Gunn traps him in a meat locker.
The gang leaves for the vampire nest. At the nest the gang pull up in the
truck. Gunn goes in first, saying to follow him in 10 minutes. When he gets
in he finds Alonna, but she is already a vampire.
In the meat locker, Angel pounds on the door, then starts to break through
the wall. At the nest Alonna the vampire talks to Gunn, telling him how
wonderful being a vampire is, they have no guilt. Angel almost gets the
locker open as Cordelia does it for him. Wesley reminds him Angel has a cell
phone in his pocket and Angel is embarrassed and runs off to save the gang.
Alonna is still talking to Gunn and says she
will look out for him, wanting to turn him into a vampire. As she is
about to drain him he stakes her. Angel stands there and tells him they
should leave. The gang comes in and the vampires come out of hiding and
surround them. Angel tells the vampires if they leave now and never come
back to Los Angeles they will get to live. The vampire leader laughs and asks
who he is, but Angel effortlessly stakes him and the vampires and gang
leave. The next day Wesley and Cordelia talk about the gang (see Continuity #3). Cordelia
says it scares her how poor they were, and considers prostituting herself
to David, since he has so much money and she needs security. She talks
herself out of it. That night Angel approaches Gunn. Gunn says he'll
keep fighting, Alonna was the reason he fought. Angel says he may need Gunn's
help someday.
Creature Feature
Madam Dorian's is a brothel in Bel Air, California who has in it's employ
a number of female demons of various types, including at least one Vigorie
demon, and a demon named Lena. Madam Dorian seems human, but was able to
tell Angel was a vampire on sight, suggesting she may be more then she
seems.
Lenny Edwards employs a demon to knock off Angel. It's a garden variety
big strong baddie.
Cool Quotes
- Cordelia: ''What? No, money, I like the smell of a little
money once in a while.''
Angel: ''She's not just saying that. Hide some in the office
sometime to watch her. It's uncanny.''
Another useful skill for Cordelia.
References
- Wesley: ''Camembert, I believe.''
Camembert is a French cheese made form cow's milk; to earn the controlled name, the cows must be from Normandy. Its manufacture, over two days, requires a special ladle.
(Thanks to Melissa Evans for the information and to Poppedijn for the picture of Camembert.)
- Wesley: ''In Bel Air, I believe. The Watchers Council is
ripe with stories about it.''
Bel Air is a very expensive and exclusive area in Los Angeles right around the 405
Freeway, west of Beverly Hills, some flat area but mostly hillside. North of
Sunset Blvd. up to Mulholland Drive.
(Thanks to Marsia from the Watcher's Diary for helping find this information.)
- David: ''Are you familiar with Dungeons &
Dragons?''
Angel: ''Yeah, seen a few...''
Welsey: ''You mean the role playing game.''
Angel: ''Oh, game, right.''
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role playing game created by TSR in 1981. It
has gone through several changes over the years, and strangely enough the
latest version has no mentions of demons or devils, in an attempt to stave
off critics that it promotes devil worship. They now have
''extra-planar-entities'' who bare a striking resemblance to the
old demons and devils from earlier editions.
- Cordelia: ''...and the idea of a vampire in a white hat
probably seems a little give-me-a-breaky.''
The term white hat, meaning good-guy or hero, stems from the tradition that
heroes in western films always wore white hats. Also used by the vampire
Willow in The Wish and Spike in In The
Dark.
(Thanks to Matt Cyran for the picture.)
Continuity
- The events of this episode take place after Angel visited Sunnydale in
The
Yoko Factor, which first broadcast on the same night right before
this episode.
- The demon Lena seems to be the same type of demon seen in the cascade of
images we saw back in City Of.
- Cordelia: ''And I thought my first apartment was bad. Can you
believe people actually live there?''
City Of - Cordelia was first shown in her run down apartment.
Rm w/a Vu - Cordelia got fed up with her first apartment and found a new one.
Goofs
- Unfinished.
Trivia
The Morgue
- Anonymous vampire: In the alley, staked with a stake launcher by a gang member.
- Anonymous vampire: In the alley, beheaded with a sword by Charles Gunn.
- Anonymous vampire: In the alley, staked with a stake launcher by a gang member.
- Anonymous gang member: In the alley, neck snapped by a vampire.
- Anonymous vampire: In the alley, staked by a gang member.
- Bobby: In the gang headquarters, injured in the fight by a vampire.
- Anonymous demon: On the street, neck snapped by Angel.
- Ty the vampire: In the vampire's lair, staked the lead vampire.
- Alonna: In the vampire's van, drained by vampires.
- Alonna the vampire: In the vampire's lair, staked by Gunn.
- Knox the vampire: In the vampire's lair, staked by Angel.
Cast
Starring:
David Boreanaz as Angel
Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndham-Pryce
Guest Starring:
Michele Kelly as Alonna Gunn
Maurice Compte as Chain
Mick Murray as Knox
Joe Basile as Lenny Edwards
David Herman as David Nabbit
J. August Richards as Charles Gunn
Co-Starring:
Sean Parhm as Bobby
Sven Holmberg as Ty
Rebecca Klingler as Madam Dorian
Kimberly James as Lena
Ricky Luna as James
Famous Faces
Joe Basile, who played Lenny also played the lead guard in the X-Files episode Three Words 8.16. You might also recognize him as one of the fathers in the 1995 film Bye Bye, Love.
J. August Richards, who played Charles Gunn, played the part of Damon in the 1995 sci-fi television series Sliders episode
Just Say Yes 4.07. His full name is Jaime Augusto Richards III and his has an official web site at http://www.jaugustrichards.net/.
Kimberly James, who
played Lena, played one of the villainous Furrier gang in the 1999 comedy film Mystery Men.
Ricky Luna, who played James, played Carlos in the Enterprise episode Broken Bow 1.01. He also has his own web site at http://www.rickyluna.com/.
Points Of View
Mathew:
A bit predictable and slow. This episode did set up a few things that
may develop nicely in the future. Gunn might be a good ally for Angel Investigations,
although they probably should have had Wesley or Cordelia contact him, since
he seems so uneasy around vamps. Madam Dorian's could be an interesting
place in the future, especially if it is somehow connected to Jheira
and the escaped Vigories. I'm starting to think Angel is starting his
own super hero group. With all those allies he's developed lately, he
could do it.
Page by Webmaster Mathew - November, 2002
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Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndham-Pryce