Angel/Provider

Provider
Season 3, Episode 12
Airdate	January 21, 2002
Production Number	3ADH12
Written by	Scott Murphy
Directed by	Bill Norton
← 3x11 Birthday	3x13 → Waiting in the Wings
Angel — Season Three

Provider is the twelfth episode of the third season of Angel, and the fifty-sixth episode overall. Angel Investigations start to advertise and are overwhelmed by the response. The gang splits up to stop a vampire nest, a zombie boyfriend and to solve a complex puzzle.

David Boreanaz (Angel), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), Alexis Denisof (Wesley Wyndam-Pryce), J. August Richards (Charles Gunn), Amy Acker (Winifred "Fred" Burkle)

Guest Starring: Andy Hallett (Lorne), Laurel Holloman (Justine Cooper), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Sam Ryan), Eric Bruskotter (Brian), Sunny Mabrey (Allison), Tony Pasqualini (Harlan Elster)

and Keith Szarabajka (Daniel Holtz)

Co-Starring: Alan Henry Brown (Lead Nahdrah), David Ramirez (Pizza Chef), Brett Wagner (Nahdrah Prince), Benjamin Benitez (Tat Vamp #2)

Plot Overview

Hoping to raise money for Connor’s future, Angel Investigations advertises and brings in a lot of business. However, it also stretches them thin. Wesley and Gunn help a girl against her stalker, Lorne accompanies Fred to solve a puzzle for a clan of demons, and Angel is sent to retrieve a watch from a nest of vampires.

Notes

Monster of the Week

• Nahdrah Demons: The Nahdrah are a race of demons who find a great deal of importance in puzzles and tests of logic. However, with age their heads deteriorate more quickly than the rest of their bodies. This makes the grafting of other heads to the body of the prince in this episode necessary.

Body Count

#	Whom	By Whom	How	Where
1/2/3	Vampire	Angel	Staked	Lair
4	Nahdrah Prince	Gunn	Decapitated	Barge

Music

No licensed music was used in this episode.

Trivia

The Show

• Guest star Alan Henry Brown previously appeared in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Forever" and would later guest star in the episode "Villains".

Behind the Scenes

• Ratings: On its first airing, this episode scored a 3.5/5 in the overnight Nielsen ratings. It was ranked 6th out of the 18 WB shows which aired that week.

Allusions and References

• Jules Verne: Jules Verne is a science fiction novelist who penned books like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and From the Earth to the Moon. Verne was notable for writing about cosmic, atmospheric and underwater methods of transport prior to the invention of any practical vehicles.

Lorne: Oh, nice décor! It's sort of a Jules Verne...

• Leona Helmsley: In the 1980s, Leona Helmsley built an empire as a real-estate mogul. She is often referred to as "The Queen of Mean," because of the hellish way she treats her employees and short temper. At one point, she was sent to prison for tax evasion thanks in part to a employee who heard her say "Only the little people pay taxes."

Lorne: ...Meets Leona Helmsley.

Quotes

• Fred: How's the Connor fund?

Angel: Well, there was a dollar eighty-three in change in the cushions out there. That's perfectly good money just laying around.

• (watching Fred holding Connor)

Wesley: Adorable.

Gunn: So sweet.

Wesley: I meant the baby.

Gunn: I meant the hot mama.

• Lorne: Uh, if this is about the baby formula I snagged from the fridge last night, sorry. I was feeling a little peckish and it was that or a glass of pig's blood. And by the way, baby formula and Kahlua - not as bad as it sounds.

• Angel: Lorne, I need you to use your contacts to find out what Holtz is up to. Alright? He's out there, somewhere. We can never forget that. Finding him is our number one priority.

Gunn: I thought you said--

Angel: Finding Holtz and making money are our two number one priorities.

(Cordelia clears throat loudly)

Angel: Helping the helpless, finding Holtz, and making money are our three number one priorities.

• Wesley: The internet article I'm currently writing posits a formula for the genome mapping of creatures who don't have genes. It's an exciting arena.

Lorne: One I'm sure we can all download at I'llNeverKnowTheLoveOfAWoman.com.

• Lorne: They either have to consult with the prince or go eat a cheese monkey. Did - Did I mention rusty with the lingo?

• Fred: There's a young woman whose dead boyfriend is stalking her.

Angel: That's terrible. Did you...

Cordelia: I ran her credit. She's solvent.

Angel: Nice.

• Lorne: They apologise for their paltry offering and hope you'll accept... fifty thousand dollars?!

Angel: Fifty...

Cordelia: ...thousand...

Fred: ...dollars?

Angel: We accept.

• Lorne: I yield the floor to the person not tied up on it.

• Cordelia: Sorry about the confusion, but we kind of need her head at work.

Fred: Firmly attached to her body.

Cordelia: That goes without saying. (to Lorne) Say it!

(Lorne translates and the Nahdrah get hostile)

Lorne: I told them what they had to do and told them what would happen if they didn't do it.

Cordelia: Lorne, we are in no position to be threatening any of these nice people.

Lorne: Oh, sure we are. Angel, Wes, and Gunn can take them. I can't see them from down here. Where are they anyway?

Cordelia: Out making money!

Lorne: Oh, so when I told the Nahdrahs that they were surrounded by killer warriors, I was stretching the truth a little?

Cordelia: Just enough to get us all killed!