Episode 11, Season 1
Title: "Somnambulist"

Written by: Tim Minear
Directed by: Winrich Kolbe
Original Air Date: 18 January 2000



Teaser:

The episode opens in a moonlit alley with a girl running for her life. A man catches her and digs a metal fingernail across her cheek in the shape of a cross. He vamps out and bites her neck. The man looks up and we see that itÍs Angel. In his apartment Angel wakes up, gasping.

Meanwhile Kate Lockley shows up to the murder scene and sees the cross marking. ItÍs the third victim killed that way, ñheÍs just getting started.î


Act I:

In the Angel Investigations office Cordelia is rehearsing her sales pitch. Wesley walks in with a newspaper to compare ñbattle plans.î It is evident he has nothing. Cordelia isnÍt very receptive. He sends hints about working together. There is an awkward silence and Cordelia mentions that it is their neighborÍs newspaper. Wesley sees the murders on the front page and leaves, deep in thought. Angel comes up the elevator looking ñhalf-dead.î He is extremely grumpy and accidentally walks out into the sunlight. He decides to take the tunnels.

In the police station Angel is talking with Kate. She is willing to run a license plate for him. They talk about the murders and she shows Angel a picture of the cross mark. Angel is visibly disturbed. Kate says they are calling the killer ñThe Popeî because he probably thinks he is doing GodÍs work. Angel remarks that it is about mocking God and walks away.

Then a montage begins as KateÍs profile of the killer is voiced over Angel walking the streets. Her description of the killer is strikingly similar to AngelÍs persona. She mentions the possibility of a painful breakup as Angel sees a blonde girl from far away. He wonders if it is Buffy, but it is not.

Back in the office Cordelia is about to leave for the day. Wes, agitated, comes in with a stake looking for Angel. He shows Cordelia the clippings. When he was in Sunnydale he researched Angel and it was typical of Angelus to carve a Christian cross into the left cheek of his victims. Cordelia gets offended and wonÍt listen to any of WesÍs accusations. She asserts that Angel is good now. Angel walks in and says Wesley is right. Immediately Cordelia is ready to stake him. Wes points a cross at Angel. With relative ease Angel disarms Wes saying ñthis is how fast I can take you if I wanted to.î They all sit down and Angel explains that he has no memory of doing these things. He has been having killing dreams but they arenÍt nightmares, he has been enjoying them. Wesley wonders if Angel is murdering people in his sleep in the pre dawn hours, when all the murders are recorded to have taken place!

To be sure, they chain Angel to his bed. There is another alley scene, which appears to be in the past, with a woman running away. A man catches her but we cannot see his face. He does the cross cut and kills her. Angel says ñthere now isnÍt that betterî and wakes up in his bed. Cordelia, elated, runs in with the newspaper. There was another killing so Angel couldnÍt have done it! Somber, Angel replies ñyes I did.î


Act II:

Back at the alley scene Angel is looming over the body. All of a sudden another vampire rises; it was his first kill. The girl was the younger vampireÍs sister. He feels hungry. Referring to him as Penn, Angel suggests he go kill his father since family blood is always the sweetest. In the present, at PennÍs apartment, he is hanging up more newspaper clippings. He has a shrine of clippings concerning the killings.

At AngelÍs place Angel is describing how he taught Penn to be a killer. He wonders why Penn has not changed his style. The dreams mean he is close; Angel has always had a connection with those he sired. He says Kate needs help; she is close to catching him. Against WesleyÍs will he goes to see her.

In the police station Angel and Kate go into a private room where there is a massive collage of various information dealing with the murders. Angel mutters: ñhe is reliving it.î Making Kate say she trusts him, he hands her a sketch of Penn and says the next victim will be a white adolescent male, probably near a bar or liquor store. Moments later Angel joins Wes in his car, holding a police radio that he stole from a police car.

Outside of a bar a young man is trying to get people to buy him beer. He sees Penn and asks him if he is old enough. Penn smiles sadistically. He leads the kid into an alley and bites him. Suddenly the cops show up and surround him. He jumps inhumanly high and through a window. Meanwhile Angel hears the cops over the radio and drives away. Kate arrives on the scene and enters the warehouse. Angel, following her, scales a fire escape.

Inside the warehouse Kate is stalking around. Penn walks cockily down the stairs. Kate warns him to stop. When he does not comply she levels him with two gunshots. She checks his pulse and is reassured that he is dead. Suddenly PennÍs eyes shoot open and he grabs her. Before he can bite her Angel comes crashing through the ceiling. Penn is visibly surprised, yet happy, and refers to Angel as Angelus. He says he waited for Angelus in Italy until the 19th Century. Angel says he got held up in Romania. Penn offer him a drink of KateÍs blood but Angel grabs his arm, stopping him. Angel says he is here to kill Penn and his face vamps out. Kate sees AngelÍs face and is horrified. Penn and Angel brawl viciously. Angel claims to Penn that ñpeople changeî and he replies ñweÍre not people!î Eventually Penn runs away. Angel turns to Kate, his face still vamped out, and she stares at him in disbelief.


Act III:

Still in the warehouse Kate asks if she shoots Angel, will he get up as well. She asks what he is but he says she already knows the answer. He remarks on the details she left out of the police reports like the puncture wounds and drained blood. He instructs her on how to kill Penn but she wonÍt listen to it. He forcefully grabs her cross necklace. It sizzles under his hand as he tells her ñthere are some things in this world youÍre not ready to face.î

Back at the police station Kate is researching into the past and sees articles mentioning a vampire killer. Meanwhile in AngelÍs office Cordelia is trying her sales pitch to Penn! He gets up and paces around the room. She notices the heavy coat resting over his chair. He asks about Kate and gets Cordelia to say her name. Suddenly she realizes who Penn is and rips the blinds open, showering sunlight on him. Angel walks in and stares at Penn. A massive section of sunlight covers the floor between them. Penn waxes philosophical about killing and being a vampire, claming that ñit never ends.î Angel calls him a cheesy hack and says Penn has been getting back at his father for 200 years. Suddenly Wesley enters and Penn grabs him by the neck. Penn admits his work is stale and says he is going to do something new, something shocking; the worst possible thing you could imagine. He tosses Wes away, grabs his coat, and runs out.

There is another montage of Kate researching, Angel on the streets, and Penn planning. Angel goes to KateÍs apartment but she wonÍt let him in. She has been researching vampires. Penn was in LA in 1929 and 1963. She also found out about AngelÍs brutal past. She asserts that she doesnÍt need AngelÍs help and threatens to stake him just like she is going to do to Penn.

In the office Cordelia is researching the 1929 and 1963 cases. It turns out that Penn stayed in the same apartment complex both times. Angel and Wesley arrive there and bust in. Penn is gone. They see pictures of an elementary school bus and a map of the schedule. Finally Penn is changing his act.


Act IV:

In the police station Kate is leading a meeting, handing out pictures of Penn. She claims they will find him through Angel, who is possibly his next victim. Out of nowhere, Penn walks in and claims the picture is a terrible likeness. He attacks police officers and grabs Kate. Angel arrives at the police station parking lot. It is chaos. Officers are rushing everywhere. Angel drops down into the sewers.

In the sewers Penn has Kate. He vamps out and smells KateÍs fear. It makes the blood sweeter. He tells her that he is going to make her a vampire and then Angel will kill her. Angel appears. He didnÍt fall for the school bus trick; it was too original. Kate throws holy water on PennÍs face and backs into a corner. Penn agrees that the last 200 years have been about sticking it to his father, but he realizes that Angel is his father. The two fight again, neither obtaining the upper hand. Kate watches and grabs a large piece of wood. Penn grabs Angel in a headlock from behind. Kate stares at AngelÍs eyes and thrusts the wood through Angel and into Penn, dusting him. With the wood sticking in his torso Angel mutters: ñyou missed.î Kate says ñno I didnÍtî and the two sit, resting on the ground.

On the roof of his office Angel is deep in thought. Cordelia arrives; she just had a vision. Angel is unresponsive. He says LA is like where he grew up: people just moving through their lives. Nothing really changes. Cordelia says: ñyou have.î She reassures him saying they were just dreams. Angel reminds her that he enjoyed them and that the beast is still in him. Cordelia responds that it is not the only thing in him, not anymore. Her vision came for Angel, not Angelus. Feeling better, Angel says ñif the day ever comes that ¿ñ Cordy cuts him off and says: ñOh IÍll kill you dead.î The two smiles and walk away.


Summary by CoA Council member, BCangel

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