Episode Trivia
Andy Umberger
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Andy Umberger played the recurring role of Anya’s boss D’Hoffryn. Andy appeared twice more in Joss Whedon’s shows - he also played Doctor Ronald Meltzer in the Angel episode 1.04 I Fall To Pieces, and he played Dortmunder Captain in the Firefly episode ‘Serenity’. Andy has also been in First Daughter (with Marc Blucas), Coach Carter, Friends, The West Wing, ER, 7th Heaven, The X Files, NYPD Blue, Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane and Bull.
Beautiful Life
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During Cordy’s meditation scene in 1.01 City of, the book in front of her (with a dollar sign on it) is called Meditation: For A Beautiful Life by Amanda Smith. Dr Ronald Meltzer has the same book in his personal library in the episode 1.04 I Fall To Pieces.
Christopher Hart
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Christopher Hart played the hands in the Angel episode 1.04 I Fall To Pieces. He is a Canadian actor and magician, famous for playing Thing, the disembodied hand, in the three Addams Family movies.
He also played the hands in the 1999 horror spoof Idle Hands, starring Seth Green. Christopher played Lefty in the 1997 movie Quicksilver Highway and had a part in the 1998 movie One Hand, Left. In the 1989 Columbo episode “Columbo Goes to the Guillotine,” he played a magician.
Divorce bouquets
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This dialogue was cut from the original script for 1.04 I Fall To Pieces:
Penny: “I sent my husband a bouquet the day the divorce was final.”
John: “And they say there’s no romance left in the world.”
Dr. Roland Meltzer
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Dr. Roland Meltzer was a severed-nerve specialist who had the ability to separate parts of his body and reattach them. He became obsessed with a patient of his, Melissa Burns after just one date, and used his talent to stalk her. Meltzer was destroyed by Angel in 1.04 I Fall To Pieces.
Drooling pain
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A stage direction for 1.04 I Fall To Pieces read:
“BACK TO DOYLE - He’s in pain, but not a writhing, drooling kind of pain.”
Funny Girl
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In 1.04 I Fall To Pieces Doyle says:
“and people who need people are the luckiest”.
These are lyrics from the song ‘People’ written by Bob Merrill and Jule Styne, which was sang by Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl.
In 4.19 The Magic Bullet, Lorne and Connor reference the song again:
Lorne: “You know what they say about people who need people.”
Connor: “They’re the luckiest people in the world.”
Los Altos Hotel
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In Angel episode 1.04 I Fall To Pieces, we see the courtyard of Melissa Burns’s apartment building. The same loacation (the Los Altos Hotel in Los Angeles) was used as the courtyard of the Hyperion Hotel in later episodes.
O. J. Simpson
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Buffy says, “You just went O.J. on your girlfriend” in 2.19 I Only Have Eyes For You. This is a reference to former American Football superstar O.J. Simpson, who was tried for killing his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her ‘friend’, Ron Goldman, in June 1994. He was controversially found not guilty in October 1995.
In the Angel episode 1.04 I Fall To Pieces, Cordelia says:
“I don’t get it, this guy has a lot to lose. What is it about Melissa that’s got him going all O.J. here?”
In the same episode, Kate says:
“They’re the law firm that Johnny Cochran is too ethical to join.”
Johnny Cochran was the lawyer who defended OJ Simpson.
In 1.06 Sense And Sensitivity, the Wolfram and Hart lawyer, Mercer says:
“…that will make Mark Fuhrman look like Gentle Ben.”
Mark Fuhrman was a detective in the Los Angeles Police Department who found the bloody glove that linked O.J. Simpson to the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson. During the 1995 murder trial of O.J. Simpson, the defence accused Fuhrman of being a racist and planting evidence.
Patsy Cline
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Xander listens to country music (”the music of pain”) in 1.12 Prophecy Girl, after Buffy turns him down. His chosen track is Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces”. A season one episode of Angel was entitled 1.04 I Fall To Pieces after this song.
Fred sings Patsy Cline’s song “Crazy” at Caritas in 3.03 That Old Gang Of Mine (Cordelia: “I swear to God, she picked out the song herself”).
Vern Gillum
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Vern Gillum directed the Angel episodes 5.19 Time Bomb, 5.09 Harm’s Way, 4.07 Apocalypse, Nowish and 1.04 I Fall To Pieces.
He has also directed other TV shows including Firefly, The Big Easy, The Untouchables, Miami Vice, Profiler, Law & Order, Pros and Cons, ER, Prison Break, Walker, Texas Ranger, The Commish, Prey, Haunted, The Twilight Zone, JAG, Nash Bridges, Gabriel’s Fire, Baywatch and Under Suspicion.
Very much alive
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In 1.04 I Fall To Pieces, Melissa asks Doyle how many cases Angel has handled, to which Doyle replies:
“Well, exactly like yours? Not quite so many. But protecting young women such as yourself? Yeah, there’ve been – ah – 4. And 3 of them are very much alive.”
The dead girl he’s referring to is Tina, who was killed by the vampire Russell in City Of.
Whedon’s actors
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Five actors have appeared in all three of Joss’s TV shows:
- Andy Umberger: played D’Hoffryn in Buffy; Dr. Ronald Meltzer in the Angel episode 1.04 I Fall To Pieces; and Dortmunder Captain in the Firefly episode ‘Serenity’.
- Carlos Jacott: played Ken in the Buffy episode 3.01 Anne; Lawrence Dobson in the Firefly episode ‘Serenity’; and Richard in the Angel episode 1.07 Bachelor Party.
- Bob Fimiani: played the head of the Initiative, Mr. Ward, in Buffy’s season four; ‘Elder Gamman’ in the Firefly episode ‘Our Mrs. Reynolds’; Grounds Keeper in the Angel episode 1.15 The Prodigal, and Codger Demon in the Angel episode 3.01 Heartthrob.
- Jonathan M. Woodward: played Holden Webster in the Buffy episode 7.07 Conversations With Dead People; Knox in Angel’s season five; and Tracey in the Firefly episode ‘The Message’.
- Jeff Ricketts: played Watcher’s Council member Weatherby in Buffy and Angel, and a creepy ‘Blue Glove’ guy in Firefly.
[Goof] Cash machine
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In 1.04 I Fall To Pieces, Dr Meltzer tells Melissa that he has changed her pin number, types in the right pin in the machine. Just as she is leaving he says, “don’t forget your money”. All he did was enter her pin number, nothing else, so why would the cash machine give out money?