''Angel relives a mystery he left in 1950's
Hollywood. To make amends he must make peace with his past.''
Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been - 2ADH02
Written by Tim Minear - Directed by David Semel - First Aired on October 3rd, 2000
Synopsis -
Creature Feature -
Cool Quotes -
References -
Continuity -
Goofs -
Trivia -
The Morgue -
Cast -
Famous Faces -
Points Of View
Synopsis
The Short: Wesley and Cordelia are assigned to research the strange
past of the abandoned Hyperion Hotel by Angel. We learn Angel stayed there
in 1952 and was involved in a suicide cover-up that a paranoia demon tried
to get everyone to blame each other for. Although Angel tried to help a
young girl on the run from the law, she ended up pointing the finger for the
death at him and the people at the hotel tried to kill him. Angel then fled.
In the present Angel returns with Wesley, Cordelia and Gunn to slay the
demon. After they do Angel finds the woman still in the hotel 48 years
later, kept there by the demon to feed off her guilt for killing Angel. Angel
forgives the woman and she dies in peace. Angel announces Angel
Investigations is moving in the hotel.
The Long: At Cordelia's, Angel shows Wesley and Cordelia a picture
of the abandoned Hyperion Hotel, and wants them to find out why the owners
are letting it stand abandoned (see Continuity #1 & Reference #1). They
ask who the client is, he says no
one and leaves without giving much of an explanation. Fade back to 1952
where we see the concierge giving mail to deliver to a bellman (see Goof #1). The bellman
doesn't want to deliver a bill to the man in room 217, who scares him. The
concierge sends him off to work. The bellman hesitates in delivering the
bill to 217, knocking quietly and leaving quickly with the bill left
in front of the door. As he leaves Angel walks out of the room and picks up
the bill (see Goof #2).
In the present, Angel arrives at the Hyperion Hotel and looks around the
abandoned lobby. As he does we shift to 1952 where people in the lobby
are watching the McCarthy congressional hearings (see Reference #2). A woman runs out the front
door with a man chasing after her as Angel walks in holding a package and
grabs a newspaper (see Reference #3). The bellman nervously tells Angel there are no messages
for 217 as Angel passes. Angel gets in the elevator.
As he gets off on the second floor he passes a man in a hat who watches him
and is noticed by a pair of men, saying good-bye to each other. Angel
goes in his room and sets down the contents of his package, a bottle of
type O human blood on the table. He then grabs a bucket and goes out
to get some ice. He spies a man talking in the hallway, but ignores him,
and sees the man in the hat knocking on a door. When Angel gets's back in his
room he puts the blood on ice, then noticed a girl hiding in the bathroom.
She pretends to be a cleaning woman, but he knows better. She apologies, but
says she is hiding from the man outside, who she claims is her jealous boyfriend. As
Angel is going to throw her out he notices someone trying to pick the lock.
He hides her and opens the door to find the man in the hat, who wants the
girl. As he tries to come in Angel slams the door in his face, roughs him
up and throws the man in the passing elevator. The woman introduces herself
as Judy, but Angel walks back in his room and closes the door. In the
present Wesley is at Cordelia's and is looking over records of how the hotel
concierge killed several people with a shotgun in 1979, and the hotel has
been closed ever since. Cordelia researches on the computer finding that
no one will buy the hotel. Wesley says there is a history of deaths at the
hotel starting in 1928 when it was under construction. Cordelia spots a
picture that has Angel standing in the background in 1952. Back in 1952
Angel hears the man in the next room playing music loudly. In the next room
the man who was talking in the hallway listens to whispering coming from no
where and answers it. He picks
up a gun and looks at it. Angel pours himself some blood. The man picks
up a pillow to muffle the shot and shoots himself.
In 1952 the bellman leads the concierge into the room with the dead man,
saying the cleaning lady found him. This is the third one in three months.
The concierge starts to hear whispering that he'll be shut down if police
discover a third suicide, the man agrees, then tells the bellman to store
the body in the meat locker. In the lobby a group of people are talking
about the death, as an old man hears whispering that it might have been
a murder. At the Griffith Observatory at night, Angel stands outside smoking
as Judy says hello and tries to thank him for him help earlier (see Reference #4). She mentions
the man who killed himself (see Reference #5). She walks off as Angel gives her the cold
shoulder. In the present at Cordelia's, Wesley and Cordelia have a pile of
newspaper clippings about strange happenings at the Hyperion. They discover
how Frank Gilnetz, the bellman, was convicted of the murder of the man.
Back in 1952, people are still talking about the death of the man in the
lobby, they are sure it was a murder. Angel walks in and as he gets to his
room Judy calls him to her room, and she is worried the man was murdered.
She is nervous and warns Angel to watch out for police investigating.
Angel asks about the man looking for Judy, who he knows was an investigator.
Judy admits she is being looked for because she stole money from the bank
she worked for after being fired because they learned her mother was black
(see Goof #3 and Reference #6).
She's been feeling guilty ever since and hasn't been able to spend the
money. Angel tries to console her and sets out to help her. In the present
Cordelia discovers that Judy Kovacs was never heard from again after
checking into the Hotel in 1952 (see Goof #4 & #5).
In 1952 Angel and Judy hide the money in the basement duct work, as she
panics. Angel notices the whispering and tells her to go to her room.
In the present, Angel walks into the basement and finds the money still
there. At Cordelia's Wesley thinks some force lives in the Hyperion
affecting people. Cordelia says it's a Thesulac demon, who whispers to victims
and feeds on paranoia. Wesley is shocked, then realized Angel called her on
the phone and told her. Angel then tells Wesley to bring Cordelia and Gunn
and help him raise the demon so it can be slain. In 1952 a man named Denver
at a book store watches television as Angel walks in looking for books on
demons (see Reference #7). The man throws him a book that causes Angel's hands to burn, and Angel vamps out
as he throws the book down, the Bible. The man then grabs a cross and chases
Angel from the store. The man knew Angel was a vampire. Angel then comes
up behind the man and tells him he hasn't killed in a long time but will
if he doesn't help him (see Reference #8). At the Hyperion the bellman tells the concierge that
he has stored the body. In the lobby debate over the murder is turning ugly.
In Judy's room the demon is whispering to Judy about how she won't survive
prison. At the book store Angel is talking about slaying a
Thesulac demon. Seems it can only be killed while in physical form, which
it only gets after a good feeding or a raising ceremony has been performed.
Denver gives him advice and the equipment to do the raising (see Continuity #2).
In the lobby everyone is arguing over the death, when the man looking for
Judy walks in stating he is a private investigator looking for Judy. Angel
gets back to the Hotel. In the present Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn arrive and
they start the raising ceremony. In 1952 Angel gets upstairs and finds
a mob of people roughing up Judy thinking she is the murderer. Angel sets
down the equipment and goes to help her, but she sees
him and accuses him of being the murderer. The investigator sees the
weapon among the raising supplies and the mob attacks Angel.
In 1952, the mob grabs Angel and hangs him from the balcony in the lobby. Angel seems dead and everyone comes to their senses and feels ashamed. Everyone walks off and Judy cries. After everyone leaves Angel stops pretending to be dead and pulls himself out of the noose. The Thesulac demon manifests itself. The rather happy demon thanks Angel for the meal. Angel is brooding and unhappy, but the demon tells him that he had reached Judy and that's what made her betrayal taste that much better (see Cool Quotes #1). A disgusted Angel leaves the hotel to the demon's mercies and walks out. In the present the demon manifests and teases Angel and his helpers. Gunn and Angel attack, and Angel electrocutes the demon, killing it. Angel goes up to Judy's room and finds Judy, 48 years later still sitting there, kept alive by the demon for him to feed off of. She recognizes him and he forgives her for her betrayal. She lays down on the bed and dies. Downstairs Angel rejoins
the group and tells them they are moving in (see Goof #5). Although Wesley protests that the place is a house of evil, Angel says it isn't any more.
Creature Feature
The Thesulac or paranoia demon depicted in this episode has both a physical
and energy form. In energy form it whispers to the minds of it's victims
feeding on their insecurities. It can only be slain in physical
form, which it takes after a healthy feeding or a raising ceremony. The
powers and methods of the Thesulac demon seem very similar to the demon
from Gingerbread.
The raising ceremony for a Thesulac demon involves an incantation, sacred
herbs, divining powder and an orb of Ramjarin. The incantation for the
raising is ''We call thee forth, Thesulac of the netherworld. We command
you, leave our minds and join us on this, the physical plane. We invoke thee
by the power of all the priests of Ramjarin. What was once in our
thoughts, be now in our midst.''
We learn in this episode that vampires are burned by touching the bible.
Cool Quotes
- Thesulac demon: ''Well, I don't know about you but I'm
stuffed! God I love people! Don't you? They feed me their worst and I kind
of serve it right back to them, and the fear and prejudice turns to
certainty and hate, and I take another bite and mmm-mmm-mmm! What a
beautiful, beautiful dance! Oh, you got your feelings hurt, didn't you? See
now what happens when you stick your neck out for them? They throw a rope
around it! And you thought you'd made a friend. News flash! You had!
That's what made her the yummiest morsel of all. You reached her, buddy!
Restored her faith in people. Without you she would have been just another
appetizer, but you plumped her up good! Now, she's a meal that's gonna last
me a lifetime! Hey, you know what? There is an entire hotel here just full
of tortured souls that could really use your help. What do you say?''
Angel: ''Take them all.''
Angel turns his back on people in need, and (un)lives to regret it.
References
- Cordelia: ''English breakfast tea, coffee, O pos.''
O positive is one of several types of human blood, people with this type
of blood make up about 37 percent of the human population. Also referenced
by Cordelia in Parting Gifts.
- Television: ''Are you now or have you ever been a member of
the communist party?''
This is a broadcast of the congressional hearings held in 1952 investigating
the influence of the communist party inside high government circles
held by Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy (1908-1957).
- Man: ''Ah, come on, honey! How do you think Lana Turner
got started?''
Lana Turner (1921-1995)
was an actress for MGM known for her glamour girl image and acting talent.
She was featured on the cover of Life Magazine on January 29, 1940 and
was in the classic 1941 horror film Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde. She was
married seven times between 1940 and 1972. In 1983 she wrote her
autobiography: ''Lana: The Lady, The Legend, And The Truth.''
- Judy: ''World ends in ten minutes.''
Angel and Judy were visiting the Griffith Park Observatory in Los Angeles The
observatory can also be seen in the films Rebel
Without A Cause (1955), Body
Shot (1993), Illicit Behavior
(1992), The Mafu Cage (1978),
Les Misérables (1998) and The Phantom Empire (1935). It has it's own web site at http://www.griffithobs.org/.
(Thanks to Marsia from the Watcher's Diary for helping find this information.)
- Judy: ''Can you imagine that wallpaper being the last thing
you see before you go?''
Angel: ''Maybe it was the wallpaper that drove him to
it.''
This may be a subtle reference to the reputed last words of poet Oscar Wilde (1854-1900): ''Either this wallpaper goes
or I do.''
(Thanks to James Cappio for pointing this out.)
- Judy: ''I'm pretty sure he works for my former employers,
City Trust Bank of Salina Kansas.''
Salina Kansas has it's own web site at http://www.ci.salina.ks.us/.
- Denver: ''They call her a zany red-head. Could be a brunette
for all I could tell...''
Denver is probably referring to the character of Lucy Recardo played by
Lucille Ball (1911-1989)
in the 1951 comedy television series I Love Lucy. This show was also
mentioned by Spike in In The Dark
.
Angel: ''I know you got a reputation, that's why I'm here.
Now, it's been a long time since I've opened a vein, but I'll do it you
pull any more of this van Helsing Jr. crap with me. Are we clear?
I want the books in the back.''
Doctor Van Helsing was a character from the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.
He helped combat the vampire Dracula.
Continuity
- Wesley: ''The Hyperion Hotel. It appears to be abandoned.''
Judgement - The hotel Angel investigates is
the same hotel he found his way into with the pregnant woman when being
chased by demons trying to kill her baby.
- Denver: ''Uh, you'll also need sacred herbs, binding
powder and something really big to hit it with.''
We first saw binding powder used against the Ethros demon in I've Got You Under My Skin.
Goofs
- There is a bit of a technical mistake in the scene where they blend from
the present day photo of the Hyperion Hotel to the scene of it in 1952.
Although the hotel seems to go from run down to good condition, the trees
and bushes around the hotel are all EXACTLY the same, despite the 48 year
difference. One would expect at least a little growth, cutting or something,
but it's all the same down the the exact same leaves in the exact same
places!
- Although it is very brief, you can see a bit of the reflection of Angel
on the silver tray he picks up his rent bill on.
- The money inside Judy's bag look like today's larger face bills then those of 1952. In scenes where Angel picks up the money it is clearly fake looking.
- Judy said she stole the money from the City Trust Bank of Salina
Kansas, but the news article Cordelia found said she stole it from the Union
National Bank.
- If you read closely, the newspaper clipping about calling off the search for Judy Kovacs, the third paragraph is a repeat of the second.
- When Angel walks down the stairs after seeing Judy die, there is a large window in the background with his full reflection showing in it.
Trivia
The Morgue
- Candle salesman: In his room at the Hyperion Hotel, shot by himself with a revolver with the goading of the Thesulac demon. (In a flashback to 1952.)
- Anonymous Thesulac demon: In the Hyperion Hotel lobby, electrocuted by Angel.
- Judy Kovacs: In her room at the Hyperion Hotel, passed away from old age.
There were several other deaths mentioned in this episode we didn't see.
Three roofers in 1928, two suicides before the salesman, Frank Gilnetz was
executed in 1954, and several people were killed by the concierge in 1979.
Cast
Starring:
David Boreanaz as Angel
Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndham-Pryce
J. August Richards as Charles Gunn
Guest Starring:
Melissa Marsala as Young Judy Kovacs
John Kapelos as the Roland Meeks the Hotel Concierge
Tommy Hinkley as Private Investigator Claude Mulvihill
Brett Rickaby as Denver
Scott Thompson Baker as the Homosexual Actor
J.P. Manoux as Frank Gilnetz the Bellman
Co-Starring:
David Kagen as the Salesman
Terrence Beasor as the Older Man (Left)
Julie Araskog as the Over The Hill Whore (Left)
Tom Beyer as the Blacklisted Writer (Right)
Eve Sigall as Old Judy Kovacs
Tony Amendola as the Thesulac Demon (Uncredited)
Joseph Raymond McCarthy as Himself (Uncredited, seen in archive footage.)
Famous Faces
John Kapelos, who played Roland, played the part of Eugene in one of my favorite
films, the 1988 comedy Vibes
and of Nancy's father in the 1996 fantasy film The Craft.
He also appeared as Detective Schanke in the 1992 television series Forever
Knight, a show about an angst ridden vampire turned detective trying to make
up for the evil of his past life. Sound familiar? John has his own web
site at http://www.carpuzi.com/.
Tommy Hinkley, who
played private investigator C. Mulvihill, played the journalist in the 1994
film Star Trek: Generations.
Scott Thompson
Baker, who played the actor, played First Kudak'Etan in the
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
episode One Little Ship 6.14.
J.P. Manoux, who played the bellman, has appeared in numerous films, television shows and commercials. Probably the most notable of them is his part as the excited alien in Galaxy Quest alongside Robin Sachs, who plays the villainous Ethan Rhane on Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Other rolls I've spotted him in include as the mayor's assistant in Inspector Gadget, a hairdresser in an episode of Suddenly Susan, and an appearance on the Drew Carey Show. One of his most recent rolls is starring in the 2001 Comedy film Beer Money. You can find a quicktime movie of the Honda commercial J.P. did at http://www.channeleye.com/Honda56k.mov. The Manoux family has it's own web site at http://www.manoux.com/. I contacted him though e-mail and he was very helpful in putting actors to character names. You can read what he had to say here.
Terrence Beasor,
who played the older man, is one of the voices of the Borg on the various
Star Trek television series and films.
Julie Araskog, who
played the over the hill whore, played the part of Britney in the
Charmed episode I've Got You
Under My Skin 1.02.
Eve Sigall, who played old Judy, played Agnes in the Roswell episode Leaving Normal 1.04. She also played in the Dead Last episode The Problem With Corruption 1.05.
Tony Amendola, who played the Thesulac demon, has been in a number of notable roles, including the part of Bra'tac on Stargate SG-1, and he played Chorus #3 in the Star Trek: Voyager episode Muse 6.22. He was also Sorrel in the Kindred: The Embraced episode Cabin In The Woods 1.08 and he played the dark priest in the Charmed episode Marry-Go-Round 4.15.
Points Of View
Mathew:
I liked this one. A little serious, but well done. I didn't
get the wallpaper joke though. The demon was a nice change from Trek-style
aliens. Real powers and supernatural weaknesses, and a non-human and
original form. Very cool. It was a little hard to believe the demon
had kept her alive and authorities couldn't find her for all those years,
especially since the place had been in business until '79! A pleasant
surprise is that I was contacted by none other then J.P. Manoux while
I was working on this page. He let me in on some inside information, like
that this episode was shot in August and that Tony played the Thesulac
demon. Way to go J.P. Manoux!
Ness:
Great episode. Tim Minear did a wonderful job of showing us a time in Angel's life where he wasn't a street bum or some evil guy running around Europe. He just wanted to be left alone and I guess the Powers had something else in mind for him. It was nice at the end when Judy said Angel looked the same but he replied he's wasn't. Smooth transitions between time periods helped the viewer to see how 50s Angel was different from now Angel.
Page by Webmaster Mathew - October, 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.
