Angel/That Vision Thing

That Vision Thing
Season 3, Episode 2
Airdate	October 1, 2001
Production Number	3ADH03
Written by	Jeffrey Bell
Directed by	Bill Norton
← 3x01 Heartthrob	3x03 → That Old Gang of Mine
Angel — Season Three

That Vision Thing is the second episode of the third season of Angel, and the forty-sixth episode overall. Cordelia's visions begin to have physical manifestations and Angel makes a deal with Wolfram & Hart to save her.

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), Stephanie Romanov (Lilah Morgan), Frank "Sotonoma" Salsedo (Shaman), Daniel Dae Kim (Gavin Park), David Denman (Skip)

Special Guest Star: Julie Benz (Darla)

Co-Starring: Justin Shilton (Young Man), Ken Takemoto (Old Chinese Man), Alice Lo (Old Chinese Woman), Mitchell Gibney (Innocuous Man), Bob Sattler (Masked Man), Kal Penn (Young Man in Fez)

Plot Overview

Cordelia’s visions suddenly begin taking a physically manifest toll on her. However, it is actually Wolfram & Hart that are behind the painful visions and have done so for a specific purpose.

Notes

Monster of the Week

• There is no distinguishable monster of the week in this episode.

Body Count

#	Whom	By Whom	How	Where
1	Fez Boy	Angel	Stabbed Through the Head	Limo

Music

No licensed music was used in this episode.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Wolfram & Hart: As promised in a previous episode, Wolfram & Hart has risen again to attempt to buy the Hyperion out from under Angel. Because he won't voluntarily sell, Gavin Park has come up with a list of codes violations that could have the building condemned. Meanwhile, Lilah has been using someone to send false visions into Cordelia's head in order to manipulate Angel directly.

• Big Bad?: Angel releases someone who was to spend an eternity on fire in a box from prison in order to save Cordelia's life. Considering all the evil, soulless looks from the man in question, it's possible that he is the "big bad" for the season.

Characters

• Cordelia: Not only have the visions been affecting Cordelia mentally, but they've now begun to hurt her physically. It seems that the visions that came from other sources than the Powers That Be cause more harm, but Lilah did say that she didn't expect such a dramatic effect.

• Gavin: Gavin Park has been moved out of real estate and into special projects by the Senior Partners, presumably to fill the void left by Lindsay.

Trivia

The Show

• Cameo in Name Only: Producers of the show named the guard Skip after Skip Schoolnik, a longtime Buffy the Vampire Slayer editor turned producer and eventual director of Angel.

• Guest star Kal Penn previously guest starred in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Beer Bad".

Behind the Scenes

• Ratings: On its first airing, this episode scored a 4.5/6 in the overnight Nielsen ratings. It was ranked 4th out of the 11 WB shows which aired that week.

• The production number indicates that this episode was switched in airing order with the third episode.

Allusions and References

• Lassie: Lassie is a Rough Collie who has starred in several movies, television series in books since her debut in 1938. The dog was most well known for warning her owners about some kind of danger, particularly Timmy being stuck in a well or robbers in the barn, as mentioned by Fred.

Fred: You're like Angel's Lassie. Sure, he does most of the saving but it's your visions that tell him that Timmy is trapped in the well, or the robbers are hiding in the barn.

• William Shatner: While still starring in Star Trek, William Shatner released an album entitled The Transformed Man, on which he gave spoken word renditions of songs like MR. Tamborine Man and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. He would later go on to do a similarly styled version of Rocket Man by Elton John.

Lorne: Way outside of my area of expertise, I should caution. But hey? Who knew William Shatner could sing?

• Phantom of the Opera: The Phantom of the Opera is a novel by Gaston Leroux, written in a serialized fashion between 1909 and 1910. The title character, Erik, has a deformed face with which he conceals behind a white mask. He wasn't actually a phantom, but only disguised himself as one in order to extort money and a seat at the opera out of the owners of an opera house.

Cordelia: I'm gonna be really ticked off if I'm all Phantom of the Opera and there wasn't a key.

• Book of Job: In the Bible, the Book of Job recounts the story of God testing Job's faith by killing his cattle, sheep, servants and family. Eventually, he is stricken with a disease that causes boils on his skin which was likely leprosy.

Cordelia: But with the Powers That Be doing this whole 'book of Job' thing, the last thing I want is more noise in my head.

• AT&T: Lorne quotes AT&T's first ad slogan from 1981, "Reach Out and Touch Someone."

Lorne: Now let's go looking for the Powers That Be. See if we can reach out and touch someone.

• The Sound of Music: The Sound of Music is a musical about a rebellious nun played by Julie Andrews who falls in love with an Austrian man during the 1940s while World War II is raging. In one of the scenes, Andrews is seen spinning around in circles on a hill.

Lorne: You're Julie Andrews in 'The Sound of Music.' And you're relaxed and you're spinning and the camera is swirling...

• The Elephant Man: Joseph Merrick was an extremely deformed man who was often referred to as "The Elephant Man". Merrick suffered from either Von Recklinghausen's Disease or Proteus Syndrome, which caused tumors, as well as skin and bone growths. His story was later adapted into both a play and a film by David Lynch.

Cordelia: And it's so great to know that the next vision I have will just be blindingly painful and not turn me into the Elephant Man or anything.

Quotes

• Wesley: Fred, if you feel comfortable enough grading our sincerity, how about joining us for the rest of the meal?

• Wesley: (to Gavin Park) Well, now that we've had this lovely reintroduction, I suggest you piss off.

• Angel: Fred! Good to see you out and about.

Fred: It is, isn’t it? Out and about. I've been forking with Gunn.

• Gunn: How come whatever we're searching for is always in the last place we look?

Wesley: I suppose it's one of the unwritten laws of being a dick. Uh, um, a sleuth, a gumshoe. Sherlock.

Gunn: All I know is, you use the word "dick" again and we're gonna have a problem. So what's the name of this place anyway?

Wesley: Van Hoa Dong.

• Old Chinese Woman: Your kind not welcome here.

Gunn: Since when can't a brother buy some ginseng tea?

Old Chinese Man: Not you. (points at Angel) Him. Vampire not welcome.

• Cordelia: (to Fred) Wow. You know, next to you, I am downright linear.

• Fred: I know you're probably disappointed that you couldn't go fight that thing with Angel.

Gunn: Right. Because why would I want to walk with a cute young woman on a beautiful night, when I could be out hacking and slaying an ugly boil covered demon monster and getting myself killed?

Fred: I can't apologise enough.

• Cordelia: Sure I hate looking and feeling like this, but if I lose the visions, I wouldn't be able to help you anymore. You wouldn't need me.

Angel: That's not why I need you. You're important. And the visions are just after market extras like Hurst shift or Krager wheels.

Cordelia: Did you just compare me to a car?

Angel: It was a very nice car.

• Skip: You know you're not supposed to be here, right?

Angel: Yeah. What about him? (motions to prisoner)

Skip: Oh, him? Oh, he's supposed to be here. Do you have any idea how monstrous a guy's gotta be before he gets sent to us? We're a very high-end institution.

• Lilah: You're a remarkable man, Angel.

Angel: Yeah, and you're an evil bitch.