Angel/Lonely Hearts

Lonely Hearts
Season 1, Episode 2
Airdate	October 12, 1999
Production Number	1ADH02
Written by	David Fury
Directed by	James A. Contner
← 1x01 City Of	1x03 → In the Dark
Angel — Season One

Lonely Hearts is the second episode of the first season of Angel. Doyle gets a vision of a bar and it leads Angel to a demon serial killer.

David Boreanaz (Angel), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), Glenn Quinn (Allen Francis Doyle)

Guest Starring: Elisabeth Rohm (Kate Lockley), Lillian Birdsell (Sharon Richler), Obi Ndefo (Bartender)

Co-Starring: Derek Hughes (Neil), Johnny Messner (Kevin), Jennifer Tung (Neil Pick-Up Girl), Tracey Stone (Pretty Girl), David Nisic (Slick Guy), Ken Rush (Guy), Connor Kelly (Regular)

Plot Summary

Angel finds himself hunting the dating scene when Doyle has a vision of danger in a singles club. As he soon gets the attention of a woman looking for a connection, Angel Investigations learn that a demon is leaving a trail of bodies.

Notes

Monster of the Week

• Tahlmer: Tahlmer is a burrower parasite. A burrower is a demon that requires a host body to survive in. It jumps from body to body, leaving a mangled, eviscerated carcass where its last host was. Because the body decomposes after so long, the burrower must evacuate and inhabit another body before it dies along with the body. The parasite imbues the host with extraordinary powers for a short time, but it has a weakness for fire.

Body Count

#	Whom	By Whom	How	Where
1	Kevin	Tahlmer	Eviscerated	Kevin's Bedroom
2	Sharon	Tahlmer	Eviscerated	Neil's Bedroom
3	Neil	Tahlmer	Eviscerated	Asian Woman's Apartment
4	Bartender/Tahlmer	Angel	Burned Alive	D'Oblique

Music

Songs are listed in order of appearance in the episode.

• THC - "Girlflesh"
• Sapien - "Neo-Climactic"
• Ian Fletcher - "Deadside"
• Kathy Soce - "Do You Want Me"
• Mark Cherrie & Ian McKenzie - "Lazy Daze"
• Chainsuck - "Emily Says"
• Helix - "Quango"
• Vast - "Touched"
• Chucho Merchan - "Ballad of Amave"
• Adam Hamilton - "For You"

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Angel Investigations: The detective agency is officially named "Angel Investigations" in this episode. Their phone number is 555-0162.

• Vampire Mythos: Doyle expands upon the idea that a vampire can't come into someone's home uninvited by saying that vampires only need an invitation as long as the owner of the house is alive. This explains why Angel didn't need an invitation into Russell's home in the previous episode.

Referbacks

• BtVS - 2x22 - Becoming (2): In order to stop Angelus's reign of terror, Buffy was forced to kill him, which sent him to Hell.

Kate: Well, I’ll tell you what: I can go where ever I want and you can go to hell.

Trivia

The Show

• First Appearance: This episode marks the first appearance of Detective Kate Lockley.

• Ratings: On its first airing, this episode scored a Nielson overnight rating of 5.6/9. It was ranked 3rd out of the 15 WB shows which aired that week.

Behind the Scenes

• Too Much?: This episode is a replacement for another episode originally written called "Corrupt". Originally, the series was thought to be much darker in tone than Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so David Fury wrote a script that fit that mould. In the original script, Kate was taking drugs and prostituting herself and Angel drinking blood from a murder victim, horrified WB executives. The executives closed down production until Fury wrote a less dark episode.

Allusions and References

• Bat Signal: The bat signal is a device used by the Gotham police department to signal Batman for help. This goes along with the theme of Batman references for Angel, another in this episode being his (failed) attempt at using a grappling hook which is similar to scenes from the Batman series of films.

Doyle: It's not like you have a signal folks can shine in the sky whenever they need help.

• Peter Pan Complex: A Peter Pan Complex is the term used for someone who exhibits the qualities of the children's book character of the same name. Those characteristics being an inability to grow up and accept both maturity and responsibility.

Cordelia: You see jazz-hands over there? Mama's boy. Peter Pan complex.

• Mission: Impossible: Cordelia makes a reference to the tapes which give the Impossible Mission Force their covert missions. The tapes always self-destruct after they are played. Incidentally, Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, regular cast members of the series, are the parents of Juliet Landau, who has a recurring role in the Buffy universe as Drusilla.

Cordelia: They should send you one of those self-destructing tapes.

• Screech: Samuel "Screech" Powers is a nerdy cast member of Saved by the Bell, a sitcom about several teenagers at Bayside High School. Screech, played by Dustin Diamond, was an archetypal awkward nerd. He later went on to become the assistant principal of the school in Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

Bartender: Ah, she was there just a minute ago, getting it on with some Screech.

• Cagney & Lacey: Cagney & Lacey was a crime drama that aired during the 1980s about two female detectives named Christine Cagney and Mary Beth Lacey. The series aired for six seasons on CBS.

Cordelia: "Cagney and Lacey" Kate? I thought we were hiding from her.

Quotes

• Doyle: I think we deserve a night of fun, don't you think? I mean, it breaks up the nights of death and mayhem.

• (Cordelia designs a new business card)

Angel: There's our number. It's right next to a, um... a butterfly?

Doyle: It's obviously not a butterfly, you idiot! It's, uh - It's a bird. No, wait. No, it's an owl! A bird that hunts at night! Brilliant! It's a...

Cordelia: It's an angel!

• Cordelia: Hi! If you're in trouble just call this number. We can help. Hi! Being harassed by someone or something? Dial us up, day or night. Hey, you look troubled, or is that just your lazy eye? Anyway, call us, we're very discreet.

• Doyle: (to Cordelia) You need to chat people up a little bit more casual-like, you know? "Hi. What's your name? How's life treating you? What's that, you say? Minions from hell getting you down?"

• Angel: (to a guy at the bar) Seriously, I wasn't hitting on you.

• Cordelia: What's with those vision things of yours?

Doyle: Well, they're messages I get, you know, from the higher powers, whoever they are. You know, it's my gift.

Cordelia: If that was my gift, I'd return it.

• Doyle: Violence is not going to solve a thing, all right? (headbutts guy harassing Cordelia) On the other hand, it's kind of festive.

• Cordelia: Yeah, like high school. It's easy to date there. We all had so much in common. Being monster food every other week, for instance.

• Cordelia: I guess the single life's particularly tough on you.

Angel: Why?

Cordelia: Well, a couple hundred years ago, the only thing you had to worry about was a hangover. Today, 'cause of your curse thingy, you can't sleep with anyone or else you might feel a moment of true happiness and lose your soul, become evil - again - and kill everyone.

Angel: Thanks, Cordelia. I always appreciate your perspective.

• Angel: I'm just asking you not to go in there.

Kate: Where are you going?

Angel: (pause) In there.

Kate: Well, I tell you what. I can go wherever I want and, uh, you can go to hell.

Angel: Been there, done that.

• Kate: You're telling me you're an investigator?

Angel: More or less.

Kate: Where's your license?

Angel: That's the less part.

• Cordelia: (to Doyle, holding a lacy brassiere) That is so high school. "Cordelia wears bras! Ooh! She has girl parts!"

• Angel: You actually live here?

Cordelia: Yes, okay? Is it my fault that maid service was interrupted? It was supposed to go home, hotel, hotel, husband.