Are You Now or Have You Ever Been (Angel episode)
Encyclopedia
"Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" is episode 2 of season 2 in the television show Angel
. Written by Tim Minear
and directed by David Semel
, it was originally broadcast on October 3, 2000 on the WB network
. In "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been", Angel recalls a traumatic experience during the 1950s at the Hyperion Hotel
.
and Cordelia
to look into the mysterious history of the abandoned Hyperion Hotel
. A photograph of the hotel blends into an action shot of the hotel exterior during the 1950s, as the manager sends the bellhop upstairs to give the guest in 217 his weekly bill. The bellhop nervously makes his delivery then runs downstairs, as Angel — the feared occupant of 217 — opens the door. As the House Un-American Activities Committee
hearings blare on a TV, Angel strolls through the lobby and the manager turns away an African-American family, telling them that - despite what their sign says - the hotel has no vacancies. On the 2nd floor heading towards his room he observes a man banging on a door, . Back in his room, he finds a woman pretending to be a maid. When Angel calls her bluff, she tells him that she's hiding from her boyfriend, the man earlier seen banging on the door. Angel helps her hide from him, smashing the door in his face when the man pulls a gun.
In the present, Angel visits the Hyperion. While doing research with Wesley, Cordelia discovers that the property is a historical landmark, plagued by strange events since it was built. Cordelia then spots Angel in a 1952 photograph of the hotel lobby, and Wesley realizes that Angel has a personal connection to the Hyperion.
In 1952, the salesman in the room next to Angel's listens to a record, talks to someone unseen, then holds a gun to his head. Angel hears a gunshot and the record skipping, and drinks his glass of chilled blood without reacting. When the manager and bellhop discover the salesman's suicide, the manager hears a demonic voice whispering "They'll shut you down" and instructs the bellhop not to call the police; instead they hide the body in a meat locker. That night, the guests gather at Griffith Observatory
, where they discuss the suicide and wonder why the cops hadn't been notified. Judy tries to thank Angel, but he is unreceptive. The next day, the guests continue to discuss the salesman, questioning if he might have been murdered. Upstairs, when Angel comments on Judy's agitation, she confesses the man banging on the door was a PI sent by the bank from which she stole money. She was fired when they found out that — although she "passes" as white — she is actually part African American
. Judy laments her decision to steal, and Angel replies that "fear makes people do stupid things," then clarifies he was referring to her employers. As Angel stashes Judy's bag of money in the basement, he hears whispering and realizes something in the hotel is making people crazy.
In the present, Cordelia and Wesley find newspaper reports of the bellhop's arrest for the salesman's murder, and an article about Judy with the headline, "Search Called Off — Fugitive Woman Believed Dead." Down in the basement, Angel finds the bag of money and once again hears the whispering. He contacts the others, announcing the hotel hosts a Thesulac demon that whispers to its victims, then feeds on their insecurities. He says he already knows the ritual to make it corporeal so that it can be killed.
In 1952, Angel returns from a bookstore where he learned the ritual to corporealize the demon; meanwhile, the PI reveals Judy's secret. When the guests turn on her, she points them towards Angel, announcing that he has blood in his room. Everyone attacks Angel, except Judy, who starts to cry. Angel is dragged into the hallway; a noose is tied to a rafter and he is pushed over the railing to hang. The crowd cheers, then slowly wonders what they've done. When everyone leaves, Angel frees himself and drops to the lobby floor. On the stairs, the Thesulac demon becomes corporeal, gloating about the paranoia he just fed on; as she had become Angel's friend, Judy's betrayal was more delicious, Angel's intervention had made her "a meal that will last a lifetime". The demon says, "There's an entire hotel here just full of tortured souls that could use your help." Angel replies,"Take them all."
In the present, Cordelia, Wesley, and Gunn
arrive at the Hyperion and, after performing the spell to make the Thesulac corporeal, Angel electrocutes it with the exposed wires of the fuse box. Angel heads upstairs and finds Judy, now old, still in her room, where she has served as the Demon's "room service" since 1952. She says the voices were gone, and asks Angel if it is safe to go out. He tells her it is, but she is so tired that she needs to rest first. She then tells Angel that she is sorry she killed him and just before she passes away, he assures her he's okay and tells her he forgives her. Angel returns downstairs; "We're moving in," he announces. Wesley reminds Angel that evil things have happened in the hotel, but Angel tells him that all of that is in the past.
, which becomes Angels main set until season 5. Production designer Stuart Blatt explains that after blowing up Angel's cramped office in the season one finale, he had the opportunity to create a bigger, more "film-friendly" set that the crew and cameras could move through freely. Creator Joss Whedon
suggested an abandoned hotel, something similar to the hotel in Coen Brothers
' Barton Fink
. The exterior shots of the Hyperion are of a historic building on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles called the Los Altos Hotel & Apartments
, which Blatt had previously used in the episode "I Fall to Pieces
". The Los Altos was home to many Hollywood celebrities — including Bette Davis
, Mae West
, and William Randolph Hearst
— before the Great Depression
, similar to the fictional history of the Hyperion featured in this episode. Blatt says the front doors of the Hyperion are "exact duplicates" of those at the Los Altos, and the back garden closely resembles the back garden in the apartments, which allows the crew to film the characters entering and exiting the building on location. "Then we cut to the interior of the hotel," Blatt says, which is on a sound stage
, "and it all works fairly seamlessly."
The nighttime scenes between Angel and Judy were filmed on location at the Griffith Park Observatory, which overlooks Los Angeles, and was where the James Dean classic "Rebel Without a Cause" was filmed for its final scene.
that explores Angel's background. "He's cynical, I-don't-get-involved guy, and I thought that was a very interesting place to be," says Minear. "Although he does reach out to help someone in the episode, it doesn't take much to push him out of that light." When fans point out the flashback scene in Buffy in which Angel is living on the streets of New York City, Minear deflects the accusation of retconning by saying, "I don't believe he was thrown out of that room in Romania by Darla in 1898
and has been on the street ever since...in the 1950s, that was the beginning of his descent into the streets."
The theme of otherness is carried through this episode by exploring LA's history of social exclusion. The hysteria provoked by the paranoia demon mirrors the fears of communism
surrounding LA's entertainment community, an African American family told there are 'no vacancies', reflecting the exclusion of African Americans from private establishments, and Angel's lynching echoes white supremacist violence against African Americans. This both captures the connection between anti-communism and racist policing, and serves as direct comment on the perpetuation of past prejudices and relevance to recent events. There is also a hint that two men Angel sees in the hallway of the Hyperion are gay and closeted, which continues the theme of social exclusion.
Writer Tim Minear
says that, although he generally prefers the season-long story arcs to the movie-of-the-week, this episode "rang his inner gong." He explains that writing this episode was a way for him "to indulge in a delicious just-for-me treat." David Boreanaz
has also cited it as one of his favorite episodes.
Angel (TV series)
Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
. Written by Tim Minear
Tim Minear
Tim Minear is an American screenwriter and director. He was born in New York, grew up in Whittier, California, and studied film at California State University, Long Beach....
and directed by David Semel
David Semel
David Semel is an American director and television producer.- Film Director :* Lone Star State of Mind*Revelations* Campfire Tales - TV filmography Director :*Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip *Heroes...
, it was originally broadcast on October 3, 2000 on the WB network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
. In "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been", Angel recalls a traumatic experience during the 1950s at the Hyperion Hotel
Hyperion Hotel
The Hyperion Hotel is a fictional home base for Angel in the television series Angel during the middle seasons of the show. The gang move into the Hyperion at the beginning of the second season, following the destruction of their offices in the finale of season one, "To Shanshu in L.A.".-History:In...
.
Plot
Angel asks WesleyWesley Wyndam-Pryce
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel...
and Cordelia
Cordelia Chase
Cordelia Chase is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer; she also appeared on Buffy's spin-off series Angel...
to look into the mysterious history of the abandoned Hyperion Hotel
Hyperion Hotel
The Hyperion Hotel is a fictional home base for Angel in the television series Angel during the middle seasons of the show. The gang move into the Hyperion at the beginning of the second season, following the destruction of their offices in the finale of season one, "To Shanshu in L.A.".-History:In...
. A photograph of the hotel blends into an action shot of the hotel exterior during the 1950s, as the manager sends the bellhop upstairs to give the guest in 217 his weekly bill. The bellhop nervously makes his delivery then runs downstairs, as Angel — the feared occupant of 217 — opens the door. As the House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
hearings blare on a TV, Angel strolls through the lobby and the manager turns away an African-American family, telling them that - despite what their sign says - the hotel has no vacancies. On the 2nd floor heading towards his room he observes a man banging on a door, . Back in his room, he finds a woman pretending to be a maid. When Angel calls her bluff, she tells him that she's hiding from her boyfriend, the man earlier seen banging on the door. Angel helps her hide from him, smashing the door in his face when the man pulls a gun.
In the present, Angel visits the Hyperion. While doing research with Wesley, Cordelia discovers that the property is a historical landmark, plagued by strange events since it was built. Cordelia then spots Angel in a 1952 photograph of the hotel lobby, and Wesley realizes that Angel has a personal connection to the Hyperion.
In 1952, the salesman in the room next to Angel's listens to a record, talks to someone unseen, then holds a gun to his head. Angel hears a gunshot and the record skipping, and drinks his glass of chilled blood without reacting. When the manager and bellhop discover the salesman's suicide, the manager hears a demonic voice whispering "They'll shut you down" and instructs the bellhop not to call the police; instead they hide the body in a meat locker. That night, the guests gather at Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory is in Los Angeles, California, United States. Sitting on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in L.A.'s Griffith Park, it commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin, including downtown Los Angeles to the southeast, Hollywood to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest...
, where they discuss the suicide and wonder why the cops hadn't been notified. Judy tries to thank Angel, but he is unreceptive. The next day, the guests continue to discuss the salesman, questioning if he might have been murdered. Upstairs, when Angel comments on Judy's agitation, she confesses the man banging on the door was a PI sent by the bank from which she stole money. She was fired when they found out that — although she "passes" as white — she is actually part African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
. Judy laments her decision to steal, and Angel replies that "fear makes people do stupid things," then clarifies he was referring to her employers. As Angel stashes Judy's bag of money in the basement, he hears whispering and realizes something in the hotel is making people crazy.
In the present, Cordelia and Wesley find newspaper reports of the bellhop's arrest for the salesman's murder, and an article about Judy with the headline, "Search Called Off — Fugitive Woman Believed Dead." Down in the basement, Angel finds the bag of money and once again hears the whispering. He contacts the others, announcing the hotel hosts a Thesulac demon that whispers to its victims, then feeds on their insecurities. He says he already knows the ritual to make it corporeal so that it can be killed.
In 1952, Angel returns from a bookstore where he learned the ritual to corporealize the demon; meanwhile, the PI reveals Judy's secret. When the guests turn on her, she points them towards Angel, announcing that he has blood in his room. Everyone attacks Angel, except Judy, who starts to cry. Angel is dragged into the hallway; a noose is tied to a rafter and he is pushed over the railing to hang. The crowd cheers, then slowly wonders what they've done. When everyone leaves, Angel frees himself and drops to the lobby floor. On the stairs, the Thesulac demon becomes corporeal, gloating about the paranoia he just fed on; as she had become Angel's friend, Judy's betrayal was more delicious, Angel's intervention had made her "a meal that will last a lifetime". The demon says, "There's an entire hotel here just full of tortured souls that could use your help." Angel replies,"Take them all."
In the present, Cordelia, Wesley, and Gunn
Charles Gunn
Charles Gunn is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series, Angel. The character is portrayed by J. August Richards, and was named by Whedon after filmmaker James Gunn and actor Sean Gunn, both of whom had worked with Whedon...
arrive at the Hyperion and, after performing the spell to make the Thesulac corporeal, Angel electrocutes it with the exposed wires of the fuse box. Angel heads upstairs and finds Judy, now old, still in her room, where she has served as the Demon's "room service" since 1952. She says the voices were gone, and asks Angel if it is safe to go out. He tells her it is, but she is so tired that she needs to rest first. She then tells Angel that she is sorry she killed him and just before she passes away, he assures her he's okay and tells her he forgives her. Angel returns downstairs; "We're moving in," he announces. Wesley reminds Angel that evil things have happened in the hotel, but Angel tells him that all of that is in the past.
Production details
This episode introduces the Hyperion HotelHyperion Hotel
The Hyperion Hotel is a fictional home base for Angel in the television series Angel during the middle seasons of the show. The gang move into the Hyperion at the beginning of the second season, following the destruction of their offices in the finale of season one, "To Shanshu in L.A.".-History:In...
, which becomes Angels main set until season 5. Production designer Stuart Blatt explains that after blowing up Angel's cramped office in the season one finale, he had the opportunity to create a bigger, more "film-friendly" set that the crew and cameras could move through freely. Creator Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
suggested an abandoned hotel, something similar to the hotel in Coen Brothers
Coen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
' Barton Fink
Barton Fink
Barton Fink is a 1991 American film, written, directed, and produced by the Coen brothers. Set in 1941, it stars John Turturro in the title role as a young New York City playwright who is hired to write scripts for a movie studio in Hollywood, and John Goodman as Charlie, the insurance salesman who...
. The exterior shots of the Hyperion are of a historic building on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles called the Los Altos Hotel & Apartments
Los Altos Apartments
The Los Altos Apartments is a Mission Revival style apartment building on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The structure was built in 1925 and designed by Edward B. Rust and Luther Mayo...
, which Blatt had previously used in the episode "I Fall to Pieces
I Fall to Pieces (Angel episode)
"I Fall to Pieces" is episode four of season one of the television show Angel. Pressed beyond her limit, Melissa comes to Angel Investigations seeking protection from a stalker, Dr. Ronald Meltzer, a renowned neurosurgeon who once operated successfully on Melissa's optic nerve...
". The Los Altos was home to many Hollywood celebrities — including Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
, Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
, and William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
— before the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, similar to the fictional history of the Hyperion featured in this episode. Blatt says the front doors of the Hyperion are "exact duplicates" of those at the Los Altos, and the back garden closely resembles the back garden in the apartments, which allows the crew to film the characters entering and exiting the building on location. "Then we cut to the interior of the hotel," Blatt says, which is on a sound stage
Sound stage
In common usage, a sound stage is a soundproof, hangar-like structure, building, or room, used for the production of theatrical filmmaking and television production, usually located on a secure movie studio property.-Overview:...
, "and it all works fairly seamlessly."
The nighttime scenes between Angel and Judy were filmed on location at the Griffith Park Observatory, which overlooks Los Angeles, and was where the James Dean classic "Rebel Without a Cause" was filmed for its final scene.
Writing
This is another episode by writer Tim MinearTim Minear
Tim Minear is an American screenwriter and director. He was born in New York, grew up in Whittier, California, and studied film at California State University, Long Beach....
that explores Angel's background. "He's cynical, I-don't-get-involved guy, and I thought that was a very interesting place to be," says Minear. "Although he does reach out to help someone in the episode, it doesn't take much to push him out of that light." When fans point out the flashback scene in Buffy in which Angel is living on the streets of New York City, Minear deflects the accusation of retconning by saying, "I don't believe he was thrown out of that room in Romania by Darla in 1898
Five by Five (Angel episode)
"Five by Five" is episode 18 of season 1 in the television show Angel. Written by Jim Kouf and directed by James A. Contner, it was originally broadcast on April 25, 2000 on the WB network...
and has been on the street ever since...in the 1950s, that was the beginning of his descent into the streets."
The theme of otherness is carried through this episode by exploring LA's history of social exclusion. The hysteria provoked by the paranoia demon mirrors the fears of communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
surrounding LA's entertainment community, an African American family told there are 'no vacancies', reflecting the exclusion of African Americans from private establishments, and Angel's lynching echoes white supremacist violence against African Americans. This both captures the connection between anti-communism and racist policing, and serves as direct comment on the perpetuation of past prejudices and relevance to recent events. There is also a hint that two men Angel sees in the hallway of the Hyperion are gay and closeted, which continues the theme of social exclusion.
Arc significance
- The flashback scenes reveal that in the 1950s, Angel bore "a contempt for humanity that is reminiscent of Angelus but without the sadism". His decision to allow the demon to feed on the hotel residents foreshadowForeshadowingForeshadowing or adumbrating is a literary device in which an author indistinctly suggests certain plot developments that might come later in the story.-Repetitive designation and Chekhov's gun:...
his decision later in the season to allow Darla and Drusilla to slaughter the Wolfram & HartWolfram & HartWolfram & Hart − Attorneys at Law is a fictional international, and interdimensional law firm featured in the television series Angel, as well as other extended materials in Joss Whedon's Buffyverse.-Fictional history:...
lawyers. Both times Angel deems that the humans in jeopardy aren't worth saving. - Angel decides to make the Hyperion Hotel the new headquarters of Angel Investigations
Cultural references
- McCarthyismMcCarthyismMcCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
: The episode's title is based on the "$64 question" posed during Congressional hearings held in the 1950s by the House Un-American Activities CommitteeHouse Un-American Activities CommitteeThe House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
and by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations associated with Joseph McCarthyJoseph McCarthyJoseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
: "Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?" The era, and paranoia surrounding it, is the setting for much of this episode. - PsychoPsycho (1960 film)Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
: Angel's opening line, "sixty eight rooms, sixty eight vacancies", is an allusion to Alfred HitchcockAlfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's 1960 suspense / horror classic, Psycho, where Norman Bates tells Marion Crane, "twelve rooms, twelve vacancies", to illustrate how the Bates Motel is no longer a popular stopping point. Also, Judy's back-story is very similar to Marion's: both are running from the law with stolen money and boyfriend troubles, and both are attempting to hide in a hotel / motel. As well, in the middle of the episode, Cordelia cites a newspaper clipping about Judy with the headline, "Fugitive Woman Believed Dead". Cordelia says that Judy was being tracked by federal authorities for stealing money, checked into the hotel, and then was never heard from again. All this is another allusion to Marion, whom that narrative would have fit perfectly as well, and who of course was knifed to death by "mother" Bates in an infamous shower scene. - VertigoVertigo (film)Vertigo is a 1958 psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes. The screenplay was written by Alec Coppel and Samuel A...
: Judy is also the name that Kim NovakKim NovakKim Novak is an American film and television actress. She began her career with her roles in Pushover and Phffft! but achieved greater prominence in the 1955 film Picnic...
's character takes after changing her identity in this Alfred HitchcockAlfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
film. She also tells Jimmy Stewart that she grew up in Salina, KansasSalina, KansasSalina is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 47,707. Located in one of the world's largest wheat-producing areas, Salina is a regional trade center for north-central Kansas...
the same place where the Judy from this episode grew up. - The ShiningThe Shining (novel)The Shining is a 1977 horror novel by American author Stephen King. The title was inspired by the John Lennon song "Instant Karma!", which contained the line "We all shine on…". It was King's third published novel, and first hardback bestseller, and the success of the book firmly established King...
: Angel stays in Room 217 at the Hyperion Hotel. Room 217 is the haunted hotel room at the Overlook in Stephen King'sStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
The Shining. - Chinatown: The detective that arrives at the Hyperion Hotel is named C. Mulvihill, a nod to a character named Claude Mulvihill in Roman PolanskiRoman PolanskiRoman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
's film noir classic, Chinatown. The bandage on his nose is an extension of the same allusion. - Rebel Without A CauseRebel Without a CauseRebel Without a Cause is a 1955 American drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social commentary and an alternative to previous films depicting delinquents in urban slum environments...
: The scene in which Judy mentions a show depicting the end of the universe was shot on location at the Griffith Observatory. Several scenes in the James DeanJames DeanJames Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
film Rebel Without A Cause were filmed at that same observatory, including a scene in which the characters attend a planetarium show about the world ending. The character of Judy physically resembles the character of the same name (played by Natalie WoodNatalie WoodNatalie Wood, born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko was an American film and television actress. After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old.Wood began acting in movies at the...
) in that film. Additionally, Angel is dressed exactly like James Dean's character during this scene. - The Yellow WallpaperThe Yellow Wallpaper"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story by the American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, first published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine. It is regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature, illustrating attitudes in the nineteenth century toward women's physical...
: Angel's comment, "Maybe it was the wallpaper that drove him crazy," is reminiscent of "The Yellow Wallpaper," another story dealing with insanity. This short story tells of a woman who develops psychosis while on a vacation prescribed by her doctor. She believes it is the house which is causing her to go mad, specifically the yellow wallpaper in her room. - Imitation of LifeImitation of Life (1959 film)Imitation of Life is a 1959 American film directed by Douglas Sirk, produced by Ross Hunter and released by Universal Pictures, starring Lana Turner and John Gavin and features Sandra Dee, Dan O'Herlihy, Susan Kohner, Robert Alda and Juanita Moore as Annie Johnson. Gospel music star Mahalia Jackson...
: Judy's character has been passing for a white girl since a teenager but it actually of mixed origin, just like the character Peola and Sarah Jane in the original and the remake.
Reception and reviews
This episode is a fan favorite, regularly ranking as one of the top episodes of the series. Slayage calls this episode one of Angels best: "a character study, offering insight into Angel's past."Writer Tim Minear
Tim Minear
Tim Minear is an American screenwriter and director. He was born in New York, grew up in Whittier, California, and studied film at California State University, Long Beach....
says that, although he generally prefers the season-long story arcs to the movie-of-the-week, this episode "rang his inner gong." He explains that writing this episode was a way for him "to indulge in a delicious just-for-me treat." David Boreanaz
David Boreanaz
David Boreanaz is an American actor, television producer, and director, known for his role as Angel on the supernatural drama series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, and as Special Agent Seeley Booth on the television crime drama Bones....
has also cited it as one of his favorite episodes.