A111- Somnambulist

Written by: Tim Minear
Cast: David Boreanaz, Charisma Carpenter, Alexis Denisof & Elisabeth Rohm.

When Angel starts having dreams of the hunt, dreams that match a string of real murders in every detail, he, Wesley and Cordelia test the theory that he might be somehow sleep-killing by chaining him to the bed for the night. Angel is hardly comforted to learn he’s in the clear, however, when he discovers the identity, and the origin, of the killer, a vampire named Penn whom Angelus sired in Ireland over two centuries ago. Devising a plan to protect Kate while making use of her vast LAPD resources, Angel forces Penn into the open, but fails to stop him due in part to Kate’s vulnerability. After Kate comes to grips with the reality of L.A.’s supernatural side, educating herself about vampire lore in general and about Angelus in particular, Angel forces her unwilling participation to trap and dust the soulless serial killer. This puts a permanent strain on his own relationship with Kate.

From: Wikipedia

ANGEL- (+11)

• +1/ Thinking it’s himself who may be killing these victims even if he has no memories of such acts.
• +1/ Having to be chained to his bed so his innocence can be proved over the rash of Angelus-like murders.
• +2/ Telling Kate who she should look for, which effectively ends their relationship.
• +1/ His first fight with Penn, a very nice and brutal one, haven’t seen a good battle in a while.
• +2/ Telling Kate about himself and vampires, it’s a really nice performance by both the actors and a very powerful and memorable scene-
  Kate: I shot him three times.  I know I did.  And he got up. (Angel steps towards her and she pulls her gun and aims it point blank at his chest) If I pull this trigger, are you going to get up, too? What are you?
  Angel: You already know the answer, Kate.  (She slowly puts her gun down and Angel walks past her) Details have been left out of the press reports.  Something you held back.  Isn’t that right?
  Kate: What do you know about it?
  Angel: Puncture wounds.  The victims have all been drained of their blood, haven’t they?
  Kate: And should I trust you more, or less because you happen to know that?
  Angel: You’re not going to stop him, Kate, not like this.
  Kate: What do you mean?
  Angel: It’s going to take direct sunlight, decapitation, – or a stake through the heart.
  Kate: You’re telling me children’s stories.
  Angel: I’m telling you the truth.
  Kate: No.  I don’t believe you.
  Angel: I know you don’t.  Even after what you saw you won’t let yourself, which is why you’ll lose.
  Kate: I’ve heard enough.
  Angel: (closes his fist around the cross dangling from her necklace and she gasps at the sound of his flesh sizzling) No, you haven’t heard a word, and you won’t.  Not now, not yet. (She looks down at the smoke rising from his fist) Because there are some things in this world you’re just not ready to face.
• +1/ Taunting Penn with his lack of originality, I haven’t seen Angel taunt that many people and that’s pretty cool.
• +2/ His second big fight with Penn.
• +1/ Asking Cordelia to kill him if he should ever turn back into Angelus (see Cordelia point 7).

CORDELIA- (+10)

• +1/ Practicing her client speech on a empty chair, the only time she probably gets to use her spiel.
• +1/ Angel: Who were you talking to?
  Cordelia: Nobody.  And Wesley.  Uhm, so, you remember that license plate we got on that runaway case?
  Angel: I remember *you* were going to follow up on it.
  Cordelia: No go. The BMV is totally stalker-phobic.  And wow! You look half-dead. (Angel looks at her)  Which for someone, who’s completely dead, would be – kind of      neat?
• +2/ Protecting Angel from Wesley’s claims of murder, which is nice and loyal. This all changes when Angel confesses to being a suspect-
  Cordelia: Okay, you get to leave now. – You’re not gonna come in here and accuse Angel like this.
  Wesley: Cordelia.
  Cordelia: No!  I don’t care how many files you have on all the horrible things he did back in the powdered wig days!  -  He is good now.  And he’s my friend.  And nothing you or anyone else can say will make me turn on a friend!
  Angel: Cordelia.  (Wesley spins around)  He’s right.
  Cordelia: (to Wesley)  You’ll stake him and I’ll cut his head off.
• +1/ Chaining Angel to his bed-
  Wesley: (to Cordy)  You’ve got to make it tight.
  Cordelia: (huffs) Like I need instructions from you. – My glamorous LA life, I get to make the coffee and chain the boss to the bed.  I’ve got to join a union.
  Angel: Cordelia, I think that’s tight enough.
  Cordelia: (pulls on the chain one more time)  And if it turns out that we’re back on the liquid lunch, better safe than cocktails!
• +2/ Meeting Penn while doing her client spiel to him, she takes a little while to realize that he is the vamp they’ve been looking for which shows Cordelia isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes. That statements backed up by Cordelia mistaking Angel’s call for a stake as the meat variety.
• +3/ Her very nice talk with Angel where she reassures Angel about his place in the world and his goodness-
  Angel: I was just thinking about how much this place is like where I grew up.
  Cordelia: Right. – Yeah.  I could see that, except for the cars, and the buildings and the, you know, everything else.
  Angel: It’s not so different.  People moving through their lives.  I wonder if anything ever really changes.
  Cordelia: Sure it does. – They do.  (Looks over at him)  You have.  -  They were just dreams, Angel.  They weren’t even your dreams.  They didn’t mean anything.
  Angel: But I enjoyed it.
  Cordelia: It’d probably be okay if you never mentioned that part ever again.
  Angel: It’s still in me, Cordelia.
  Cordelia: Sure it’s in you.  We all have *something*.  But it’s not the only thing that’s in you.  You’re not him, Angel.  Not anymore.  The name I got in my vision, the message didn’t come for Angelus, it came for you.  Angel.  And you have to trust that whoever that  The Powers That Be be, – are, – is.. anyway, – they know the difference.
  Angel: Yeah.
  Cordelia: People really *do* change.
  Angel: Yes they do.  And sometimes they change back.  -  If the day ever comes that I…
  Cordelia: Oh, I’ll kill you dead!
  Angel: Thanks.
  Cordelia: What are friends for?

WESLEY- (+2)

• +1/ Coming into the Angel’s office to find out if they have any work, he’s so pathetic at times, but it’s hilarious-
  Wesley: Just thought I’d pop round so we might compare battle plans from our respective fronts.
  Cordelia: Oh, I thought you worked alone?
  Wesley: Well, even a solitary soldier, such as myself, recognizes that a free exchange of intelligence benefits the common struggle.  -  Also, I brought in your mail and newspaper.
  Cordelia: Oh, thanks.  So what have you got?
  Wesley: Got?
  Cordelia: You wanted to compare skinnies on the current ‘evil happenings’.
  Wesley: Yes.  Skinnies.  Precisely.  -  Uh, right, well…  Everything *seems* quiet.
  Cordelia: Okay.  Well, – thanks for stopping by.
  Wesley: And you?  -  How go things on your end of the good fight?
  Cordelia: I’ve been giving the hard sell to an empty chair.  What do you think?
  Wesley: Quiet all around then.  (Cordy looks at the paper and mail he brought in)  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.
  Wesley: Yes, most effective.  Your cryptic visions, Angel’s brawn, my *highly* developed powers of deduction rounding out…
  Cordelia: (hands the mail back to him)  This isn’t our mail.
• +1/ Wesley: What are you doing?
  Angel: She doesn’t know what she’s dealing with, what she’s up against.
  Wesley: And you’re not going to tell her.  -  Think about it.  You can’t walk into a police precinct with intimate knowledge about these murders and claim a 200 year-old Puritan is responsible. – You’d be locked up faster than Lady Hamilton’s virtue!  (Looks over at Cordy)  My apologies.
  Cordelia: That’s okay.  I-I don’t know what that meant.

KATE- (+5)

• +1/ Showing that she has some attraction to Angel-
  “Hey.  I have the info on your license plate.  (He swallows and looks around) Angel, are you okay?  Not that the ‘brooding man of mystery’ thing isn’t working for you.  I mean it is.  A lot.”
• +1/ In the scene where Angel tells her who they should be looking for, Kate has to declare her trust in Angel, which I find interesting because that trust is very soon to be broken.
• +1/ Being told by Angel about his identity and the existence of a darker world (see Angel point 5).
• +2/ Actually killing Penn by stabbing Angel with a large wooden stake which is angled in the right way to miss Angel’s heart and get Penn’s, now that’s some smart thinking.

SEASON OVERALL-

ANGEL- +92
CORDELIA- +67
DOYLE- +44
KATE- +16
BUFFY- +13
WESLEY- +13
SPIKE- +8
OZ- +5
PHANTOM DENNIS- +1
LINDSEY- +1

OVERALL COUNT-

BUFFY- +305
ANGEL- +207 (4th to the double century in 54 episodes)
CORDELIA- +191
OZ- +92
SPIKE- +70
DOYLE- +44
WESLEY- +38
KATE- +16
PHANTOM DENNIS- +1
LINDSEY- +1

EPISODE THOUGHTS-

Another very strong episode. I think what makes this episode is the villain, Penn. He is a very dangerous vamp, taught by Angelus and has managed to inherit all of his most dangerous traits. This is the first time since Spike and Dru that we’ve seen a vamp Angelus sired. It’s interesting to see Angel deal with his past in a very physical sense. Cordelia also provides valuable support but I would’ve liked a bit more from Wes, I mean, he is incredibly funny when you give him the time. I also liked that Kate has finally found out about Angel and for once, someone doesn’t fall on Angel’s side. She doesn’t trust him and she is now virtually a enemy. It’s great to see an ally switch sides because of Angel’s vampirism, it mixes it up a bit. The episode was paced well and the plot was very entertaining.

87/100