Angel/Recap/S01/E18 Five By Five

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
< Angel‎ | Recap‎ | S01


Angel rescues a gangbanger from the demons who have killed the other members of his gang. He attempts to 'persuade' the obstinate gangbanger, a key witness whom Angel has tracked down to testify in court against a shady Wolfram & Hart client, to do his civic duty.

Elsewhere, Faith, last seen in "Who Are You," arrives in Los Angeles on a bus. She mugs the first man she meets.

"I think I'm gonna like it here."

In a flashback to to Borsa, Romania, in 1898, Darla leads Angelus into a home. After removing Angelius' blindfold, Darla wishes him a happy birthday and lets him vamp out on a bound and gagged gypsy girl.

Outside Angel's office, Cordy and Wesley argue over whether or not Marquez is going to do it. Cordy believes that her vision that helped save Marquez life was a waste of a vision. Wesley believes Marquez will testify.

In court the next day, Lindsey McDonald on behalf of Wolfram & Hart moves for dismissal of a murder charge as there are no witnesses, but Angel shows up in the nick of time with Marquez, who is a key witness for the prosecution and is now willing to testify. As Lindsey takes heat for his failure in court, Lee Mercer presents Lindsey with some papers, claiming a solution to their problem. Together with Lilah Morgan, who knows how to find Faith, he makes the contact.

The next night, Darla returns to find that her darling boy, Angelus, is no longer the demon she created. Angel reveals that the gypsy girl he ate on his birthday had a family, who found out about her death and did something to him. Darla is disgusted, breaks a chair, and tries to stake Angel. After several failed attempts to kill Angel, Darla kicks him out of the home.

In Wolfram & Hart, Lilah, Lindsey, and Mercer are explaining that it would be in their best interest if Faith killed a man named Angel, but they don't want to be connected to his death. In return, Wolfram & Hart can get Faith off of her murder charges. She asks what they will pay. When Lee fails to answer right away, she grabs him by the scruff of the neck and beats his face into a table. His co-workers beam at their new trainee's can-do initiative.

The next day, Cordelia, Wesley and Angel are in the lobby of an office building on their way to a luncheon meeting. Faith attempts to shoot Angel in the back with a crossbow, but Angel turns around in time to catches the bolt in mid-air a few inches from his heart. Faith issues her challenge and runs for the door. Cordy notes Faith looks fit as a fiddle for somebody in a coma.

Back at his office, Angel phones Giles in Sunnydale to learn that Faith got loose a week ago. Angel pulls rank and instructs Wesley and Cordelia to make themselves scarce. Cordelia wholeheartedly agrees, but Wesley balks at having to run and hide. He tries to convince Angel that there may still be a chance that Faith could be helped, but Angel interrupts by reminding Wesley that he had ruined Angel's one chance at rehabilitating Faith the year before. Wesley looks abashed.

Later, Angel finds Faith in his outer office, where she stands protected from immediate attack by sunlight streaming through the raised blinds. She tosses Angel a gun, which he immediately aims at her leg and shoots. The bullet is a blank, however, and he tosses the gun back. After mocking him for only trying to wound her, Faith says she wants to "up the stakes" by playing for Angel's soul as well as his life. She shoots him in the shoulder with a real bullet, then escapes by crashing through the sunny window.

Angel, wearing a suit and spouting corporate double-speak, sneaks into Lindsey's Wolfram & Hart office. Lindsey interrupts Angel in mid-snoop. He denies knowing anything about Faith. He also informs Angel that Wolfram & Hart has advanced security systems both electronic and mystical-—Angel's every move has been documented in digital hi-def since he crossed the building's threshold. After disabling the first security guard on scene, and with a parting promise to Lindsey, Angel chooses discretion and leaves.

In the meantime, Cordelia tries to get into her apartment, but her ghost Phantom Dennis makes it difficult. Cordelia thinks Dennis is jealous of Wesley until they discover that Faith has broken in. Faith knocks Cordelia and Wesley out, and takes Wesley back to her apartment, where she ties him to a chair and tortures him. Faith has correctly calculated that Angel, indifferent to being targeted himself, will be unable to ignore threats to his friends. Finding Wesley still defiant, Faith recites the list of the "five basic torture groups," blunt, sharp, hot, cold and loud, and decides to move from blunt to sharp. Meanwhile, Angel and Cordelia feverishly work to locate Faith before she kills her bait.

In 1898, a shabby Angel begs for food on the streets of Borşa. He encounters a group of well-dressed people but rejects the coin they toss into the mud, telling the men that he wants the lady in their company. The men rush Angel and force him into a dark alley as he shouts, "I'm a monster!" Soon the men come sailing back out to the street, followed by Angel, staggering but still upright. He grabs the shrieking woman, drags her deeper into the alley, backs her up against the wall and bites her, then mutters, "I can't, oh God, I can't." As he stumbles away down the muddy street, the girl he wanted to eat staggers out after him, bitten but alive.

Faith sits disconsolately in an open window, waiting for Angel. Sighing, she drops the now-bloody glass shard on the pavement below. Turning back into the room, she continues to torment her former Watcher. Apparently ready to switch to "hot," she goes to the kitchen for a flame wand and a can of non-stick spray. Before she can have her fun, Angel smashes down the door and charges into the apartment. Wesley throws his chair back, and Angel kicks Faith away from Wesley. They continue to batter the furnishings and each other, then crash out a window together, only to resume combat in the alley three stories below. Rain begins to pour down and it becomes increasingly clear that Angel no longer intends to kill Faith. Meanwhile, Wesley cuts himself loose and staggers downstairs, armed with a kitchen carving knife. Faith, more and more distraught, tries wildly to force Angel to fight back. Faith breaks down completely, confessing her self-loathing and begging Angel to punish her.

"I'm bad, I'm bad. Please Angel, do it. Just kill me."

Angel finally takes Faith in his arms and goes to his knees with her, holding her close as she collapses in the dark downpour. Behind them, Wesley drops his knife.

Tropes:

  • Aerosol Flamethrower: Faith threatens to torture Wes with a stove lighter and a can of cooking oil.
  • Aesop Amnesia: Phantom Dennis, despite sensing the evil intent of Cordy's last visitor, goes unheeded yet again.
  • All According to Plan: Angel kicks down the door to rescue Wes. Faith says, "About time."
  • Always a Bigger Fish: Marquez walks up to some hoodie-wearing guys sitting around a fire and warns them they better clear out before his gangbanger buddies get here -- only to realise they're demons, holding the severed arm of one of his buddies.
  • All Your Base Are Belong to Us / Your Door Was Open: Faith showing up unannounced at Angel's office.
    • Cordy goes to her place to pack up some things, but Faith pops out of a doorway and begins complaining about Angel not being pissed enough yet. That can't bode well.
  • Arc Words / Foreshadowing: Wesley insisting that Marquez already has a soul, "and therefore somewhere, deep down inside, an urge to do what's right."
  • Asshole Victim: A man with a cigarette who offers seedily to give Faith a place to stay.
    • A bunch of nobles mistake Angelus for a beggar and hurl coins at him. "Have a pint on us!"
  • Arrow Catch: Angel twirling around in time to catch a crossbow bolt a few inches from his heart.
  • Badass Boast: "You can't take me. NO ONE take me!"
  • Baddie Flattery: Faith gushing over Angel's arrow dodge. "That was so cool!"
    • "You know, just when I think I have you figured out, you show up in a suit."
    • Faith is impressed when Wesley hauls off and hits her. Now he's speaking her language.
    • Averted before the big fight: Angel is appalled by the miniscule bounty on his head.
  • Bait and Switch Comment:

Wesley: "I was your Watcher, Faith. I know the real you, and even if you kill me, there is just one thing I want you to remember."
Faith: "What's that, love?"
Wesley: "You...are a piece of sh--" (Faith gags him)

  • Bar Brawl: Faith sparking a melee in a nightclub.
  • Battle in the Rain: A one-sided bout between Faith and Angel, who refuses to put up his dukes.
    • Redemption in the Rain: Faith falls apart in Angel's arms as the rain beats down in the final alley fight.
    • The original script called for a rain machine in the battle scene, but this was dropped for cost reasons - and then the skies cooperated with the producers anyway. (Filming of the Buffy episode "Superstar" - which aired on the same night in 2000 - overlapped shooting for "Five by Five," which is why much of that Buffy episode also takes place during a torrential downpour that struck Los Angeles at the time.)
  • Stubble Of Evil: Dick, the pimp. Unfortunately for him Faith is a lot more evil.
  • Being Personal Isn't Professional: Wesley fearing that Angel will let emotion control him, which means that "one of you will certainly wind up dead."
  • The Berserker: To go down the list, Faith: beats a man up far beyond what she needs to, taking up residence in his place (which is easily tracked), provokes bar fights, beats Lee to a bloody pulp over a petty remark, fires a crossbow at Angel's grill in broad daylight, and most shockingly, tortures her hostage to near-death when simply tying him would suffice. This is a far cry from the girl who took long-distance potshots from sniper nests.
  • Best Served Cold: Faith hints at some resentment toward Wesley, though Angel zeroes in on the obvious question: "For what? I thought you were happy with the way you are."
  • Bluff the Impostor: Inverted with Lawyer!Angel, who somehow coasts by on his feeble jargon.

Lawyer: We have to close Gruber now, before the soft offer becomes hard and the stock goes--"
Angel: (waves arms) Through the ceiling!

Lawyer: --In the toilet.

Angel: Right.

"Do you think I won't share? I can't believe you think I'm that insensitive.

Faith: Y'know, I think I wanna hear you scream.

Wesley: You never will.

  • Disproportionate Retribution: Lee using some big words to make Faith feel stupid, not an especially bright move on his part.
  • Dissonant Serenity: Faith continues to dance while chaos rages around her, choreographing kicks and punches without missing a beat.
    • Lee getting his head pulverized while his co-workers look on with tranquility.
  • Dramatic Gun Cock: As Lindsey gloats over his surveillance system, a security guard suddenly appears behind Angel with a gun raised.
  • Dramatic Irony: Darla proudly saying that she "looked everywhere" for Angelus' prey.
  • Dressing as the Enemy: Angel wearing a three-piece suit and toting a briefcase.
  • Duel to the Death: What Faith is after. Angel is happy to oblige, until he realizes that she's undergoing a Villainous BSOD much like he did a century ago.
  • Dual-Wielding: Faith comes at Angel with dual stakes.
  • Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Angel sneeringly comments on Faith looking "worn out."
  • Evil Is Petty: When the DA accuses Wolfram & Hart of witness tampering, Lindsey gets huffy, promising to file a grievance with the Bar Association for that slanderous remark.
  • Exact Words: "Please understand that we would never advocate the killing of another human being. -- His name's Angel."
  • Fake Kill Scare: Angelus dragging a Romanian girl into an alley and biting her. In the following flashback, Angel staggers out of the alley muttering, "I can't, oh God, I can't...", closely followed by the girl, who looks dazed.
  • Faux Symbolism: Faith hanging out at Club Hell
  • Feet First Introduction: Faith stepping off the bus.
  • Femme Fatalons: Angelus tries to hug Darla -- Darla scratches his cheek and shoves him away.
  • Finger-Lickin' Evil: With Wesley tied up, Faith hops on his lap like Santa and starts licking her fingers... then digging them into his open face wounds.

"All these cuts and bruises... just bring out the mother in me."

Angel: "Ever occurred to you this might be more fun for me?"
Faith: "You think? Because what if you kill me -- and you experience that one true moment of pleasure? Oops! I'd get off on that. Go ahead. Do me. Let's take that hell ride together. Come on, Angel, I'm all yours! I'm giving you an open invitation. (Angel doesn't move) Jeez, you're pathetic! You and your little tortured soul, got to think everything through. Well, think fast, lover. You don’t' do me, you know I'm gonna do you!"

"I heard you came up with a good idea. How to deal with our friendly neighborhood vampire?"

Faith: I'm not much of a talker. I'm more of a doer.
Lilah: I think you might have misunderstood my intentions.

  • Glad I Thought of It: Lilah approaching Lee and applauding his idea of hiring Faith to kill Angel. Unfortunately for Lee, Lilah is the only one who knows where Faith is, so Lilah gets to be his representative.
  • Good Hurts Evil / I'll Kill You!: Darla recoils from ensouled Angelus' attempt to hug her and throws him out of the house, threatening to stake him if he returns.
  • Half Truth: Wesley and Angel berate Cordelia for dragging them into a divorce case. Cordy makes a valiant effort, saying, "According to the husband... the wife's a real witch!"
  • He Knows Too Much: Marquez is the witness to a murder committed by one of Wolfram & Hart's clients. The firm sent demons to prevent him from testifying in court.
  • Hell-Bent for Leather: Faith looks delicious in her black leather pants.
  • Hey, Wait!: In Wolfram & Hart's lobby, a random lawyer points at Angel, shouting, "You!" Phew, the lawyer has confused Angel with someone else, and begins jabbering about the "Gruber meeting."
  • History Repeats: Faith's self-destructive spiral is mirrored by Angel's flashbacks to 1898. Examples: Angel and Faith's declaration of self-hatred, Angelus' "birthday present" being Bound and Gagged in a similar manner to Wesley.
    • For that matter, Faith's torture of her Watcher is a deliberate callback to Angelus and Giles. This is lampshaded by Faith herself, who cracks about Giles switching places with Wesley.
    • Faith fiddles with an unseen part of Wesley's anatomy, causing him to writhe in agony. This scene is similar to Giles' implied torture at Angelus' hands.
  • Hollywood Law: Angel's prejudicial outburst in court -- while dramatic -- was probably overheard by the jury, which is grounds for an appeal.
  • Human Shield: At Angel's entrance, Faith immediately whips out her knife and holds it to Wesley's throat.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Wesley firmly believes that Marquez will do the what's right. Suddenly, Marquez bursts out of Angel's office, shouting, "No way! I'm gone!" before Angel drags him back inside by his shirt collar.

Cordelia: I guess you're right, Wesley. He's just like the Dalai Lama.

    • Lindsey's nonchalance at finding Angel in his office. "Don't you have any respect for the law?"
  • I Am a Monster: A starving and ensouled Angelus beats up a woman's protectors and tries to feed on her, all the time shouting "I am a monster!" He is unable to go through with killing her.
    • Likewise Faith is reduced to flailing ineffectually at Angel's chest while shouting "I'm evil! I'm bad! I'm evil! Do you hear me? I'm bad!"
  • I Have Your Watcher
  • I Shall Taunt You: Faith dropping by Angel Investigations to deliver her ultimatum.
  • Idiot Ball: When the ghost in Cordelia's apartment tries to stop them from going in, Cordy just assumes he's jealous because Wesley is with her. It's actually because Faith is lying in wait.
  • In the Back: Faith strolling into view behind Angel and leveling a crossbow at his back.
  • Improvised Weapon: Angelus points out that Darla brought the gypsy girl to him, which raises a good point, but Darla retorts by smashing a chair and picking up one of the legs to use as a stake.
    • According to a police report Faith broke an officer's jaw with his own cuffs.
    • Faith smashing a handy picture frame to make incisions on Wesley's face.
    • During the indoor fight, Faith kicks a coffee table at Angel, followed by a lamp and vase. Eventually she finds a bit of broken something that's reasonably stake-like.
  • Insult Backfire: Cordelia, interpreting Dennis' door-slamming as jealousy, declares that "Hell will freeze over" before she has sex with Wesley.

Wesley: (under his breath) Thank Heaven for small favors.

POUND POUND POUND "How do you look now?" POUND POUND

  • It Works Better with Bullets: The round Angel fires turns out to be a blank, so he tosses the gun back to Faith. She reveals she was just testing Angel to see if he would kill her, then shoots him in the shoulder with a real bullet.

"Gosh. That one wasn't a blank."

Faith: "Now I got money -- and a place to stay."

  • National Stereotypes
  • No Smoking: A scuzzy guy outside the bus depot lights a cigarette, which is the international sign that he's either evil or dead meat.
  • Noodle Implements: Cooking oil, a flame wand, and a sizable shard of glass.
    • In "Release", it is revealed that Faith restricted herself to shallow cuts, to ensure that Wesley remained conscious.
  • Noodle Incident: From the sound of it, Angel must've missed one hell of a Gruber meeting.
  • Not So Stoic: Wesley is initially Faith's advocate, chiding his teammates for their lack of compassion. He changes his tune soon enough.
  • Off with His Head: Angel, riding shotgun, has decided that rather than muss up his clothes, he'll just use his trusty sword to perform a drive-by beheading.
  • Only a Flesh Wound: Faith mocking Angel for aiming at her leg.
  • Peek-a-Boo Corpse: Marquez approaching a few bums who are camped out around a flaming barrel. One of the bums is holding a gun; But then he stands, and we see he's actually holding a severed arm, which is holding a gun.
    • Someone was taking the idea of being "fully armed" a bit too literally.
  • Perp Sweating: Angel warning Marquez to do the right thing, or else next time demons will be chopping Marquez up and incinerating his remains.

Angel: You're gonna have to face your demons sometime.
Marquez: What if I don't want to face my demons?
Angel: Then you'll have to face mine.

"Since this may be the last chance we have to unload on each other, I feel it's kind of my duty to tell you that if you'd been a better Watcher, I might've been a more positive role model."

  • Revolvers Are Just Better: Faith lends hers to Angel as a way of testing his capacity to kill.
  • Riches to Rags: And so Angelus was cast out into the streets of Romania, to wander alone as a vagrant.
  • Run or Die: With a rogue Slayer in town, Angel instructs Wesley and Cordelia to make themselves scarce. "I don't want to give her any free targets."
  • Sadistic Choice: Wesley gets the privilege of choosing which torture method Faith is going to try next. ("It's always more fun with audience participation.")
  • Scare Chord: Faith dropping in on her two amigos, Cordelia and Wesley.
  • Sequel Episode: To "Who Are You."
  • Sheathe Your Sword: Faith keeps wailing on Angel until she eventually tires herself out. Echoed by Wesley's knife drop.
  • Shut Up, Kirk: Wesley tries to speechify, and Faith interrupts by using her patented elbow-to-the-face move to knock out Cordy. Whereupon Wesley slugs her in the face.
  • Sinister Silhouettes: Hobo Angelus in flashbacks. "I'm hungry."
  • Slow Motion Drop: Faith drops the bloody shard of glass she used to torture Wesley out a window.
    • Later, Wesley drops the knife he's carrying when he sees Faith is no longer fighting Angel.
  • So Was X: Wesley observing, "One could have said that about Angel," after Cordy says it's impossible to change people. (Cordy scoffs, adding that Angel was cursed by gypsies.)
  • Suicide by Cop: Faith's true motive all along.
  • Super Window Jump: Faith's not a big fan of doors. Presumably, she didn't want to give Angel a chance to chase her down.
  • Surprise Witness: Angel unexpectedly drops in on a courtroom proceeding with an eyewitness in tow — the same kid who was thought to have been intimidated by Lindsey into silence.
  • Surveillance as the Plot Demands: Lindsey is unfazed by Angel's breaking-and-entering; he says the silent vampire alarm has gone off, more guards are on the way, the police have been called, and their conversation is being recorded. On Hi-Def.
  • Suspiciously Apropos Music: Faith commencing a bar fight to the sound of "Living Dead Girl".
  • Swiss Cheese Security: Averted as Angel's attempted search of Lindsey's office is detected immediately -- ironic given that Wolfram & Hart's lousy security becomes a Running Gag in later seasons.
  • Tap on the Head: Lindsey, your security system is just terrific, honest, but maybe you should tell your guards that guns aren't really effective on vampires.
  • Tattooed Crook: Cordy grousing about how saving's Marquez life was "a waste of a good vision," since "someone with that much body art is going to have a different definition of civic duty."
  • Tears of Remorse: Faith collapsing into tears and begging Angel to kill her..
  • Terms of Endangerment: Faith greeting Angel by asking for a hug. He says it's good to see old friends.
    • Think fast, lover. You don't do me, you know I'm gonna do you.
  • That Came Out Wrong: Lindsey explaining that they have a problem they need help with, adding, "If a service is rendered, we can get you off." Predictably, Faith responds, "You don't know how many men have offered me that.

Lilah: (slyly) I'm certain you won't be disappointed in our performance.

  • Torture Technician: How does a teenaged girl know the "five basic torture groups"?
  • Trouble Entendre: "Nice to see you again, Lindsey. We'll do this real soon."
  • Twisted Echo Cut: Angel quipping about bad neighborhood elements, then offering to give Marquez a lift. Cut to a seedy fellow making a similar proposition to Faith as she walks along; she looks like she's new in town, it's dangerous around here, etc.
  • Unusual Euphemism / Last-Second Word Swap

Faith: "Face it, Wesley, you really were a jerk. Always walking around as if you had some great big stake rammed up your...English Channel."

Angel: What's "the game" exactly, Faith? Boredom? Revenge?

Faith: Dude, I'm getting paid. They hate you almost as much as I do.

Angel: ...Except for that pesky drug dealing and murder stuff.

  • Villanous Breakdown: Faith suffers one in the middle of her fight with Angel and begins to hit him, cry and beg himt to just kill her.
  • We Have Reserves: Lilah, watching Lee's beating from the sidelines, praises Faith's "initiative." Lindsey buzzes his secretary to change their reservations to three, not four, for dinner.
  • Would Hit a Girl: When a girl objects to Faith dancing with her boyfriend, Faith nonchalantly elbows her in the face. The guy apparently feels that's going to far, and takes a swing at Faith, who hurls him into some other dancers.
    • Justified in Wesley's case. He knows he's dealing with a Slayer.
  • You Must Be Cold: Subverted. Faith finally confides that she's cold. The hood starts to remove his jacket ("Warm is my middle name"), whereupon she pummels him into unconsciousness and rips it off of him.
  • You Fight Like a Cow: "That all you got, vampire? Get in the game."
Back to Angel
Back to Angel/Recap
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Angel/Recap/S01/E18_Five_By_Five?oldid=2051112"