Episode Trivia
Angel in 1952
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In 2.02 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?, we see that Angel was staying at the Hyperion Hotel in 1952. At that time he was a loner, buying butcher’s blood and keeping to himself. Others found his intimidating.
David Semel
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David Semel directed 3.08 Lover’s Walk, 2.20 Go Fish, 2.10 What’s My Line? (Part Two) and 1.05 Never Kill A Boy On The First Date, and the Angel episodes 1.12 Expecting and 2.02 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been. He has also worked on Lone Star State of Mind, Boston Public, Roswell, Dawson’s Creek, Ally McBeal, 7th Heaven, Malibu Shores, Chicago Hope, Party of Five and Beverly Hills, 90210.
Griffith Park Observatory
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The scene in which Judy and Angel meet before she attends the theatre in 2.02 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been? was filmed at the Griffith Park Observatory located at the top of Mount Hollywood. The Observatory is one of the highest spots in Los Angeles, offering fantastic views of the city below. Many movies have been made there, including Rebel Without a Cause, The Terminator, The Rocketeer and Les Misérables.
Hyperion Hotel
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Angel Investigations moved into Hyperion Hotel in season two. Exterior shots of the hotel were filmed at Los Altos Hotel & Apartments, located at 4121 Wilshire Blvd. The building is on the National Register of Historical Places. Built in 1925, Hollywood stars including Bette Davis, Mae West, Judy Garland and Loretta Young stayed there. It is rumoured that William Randolph Hearst once kept his mistress, actress Marion Davies, in the penthouse apartment.
Judy Kovacs
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Judy Kovacs stayed at the Hyperion Hotel in 1952 whilst a reclusive Angel was living there. She befriended him after he scared away her “boyfriend” - who was really a private detective. She later confessed that she used to work at the City Trust Bank in Salina, Kansas where she stole a briefcase full of money because she had been fired for being part African-American. Angel decided to help her, but was betrayed when she distracted an angry mob away from herself by accusing him of murder. Judy continued to live at the hotel, alone and trapped by a paranoia demon. Angel visited her over fifty years later and assured her not to feel guilty for her part in his ‘death’ (the mob had hanged him, but he escaped). She then died, her soul finally at ease. Judy was seen in 2.02 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been.
McCarthy hearings
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The title of the episode 2.02 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been? is based on the questions posed during the trials held by the Committee on Un-American Activities associated with Joseph McCarthy. The most famous question was, “Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” Footage from one of these hearings is seen in the episode. The theme of paranoia and fear in the episode is commonly associated with McCarthyism.
Melissa Marsala
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Melissa Marsala played Judy in 2.02 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been. She has also appeared in The Darkroom, Six Feet Under, The West Wing, A Tale of Two Pizzas, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, NYPD Blue, The Sopranos, Malcolm in the Middle, The King of Queens, Bringing Out the Dead, Mickey Blue Eyes, Law & Order, Van-pires, and The Definite Maybe.
Nine years since last feeding
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The following is from 2.02 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been:
Angel to Denver: “I know you got a reputation, that’s why I’m here. Now, it’s been a long time since I’ve opened a vein, but I’ll do it you pull any more of this Van Helsing jr. crap with me. Are we clear?”
We see Angel sire Lawson in 5.13 Why We Fight. The siring occurred in 1943, exactly 9 years previously.
Perry Como & The Fontane Sisters
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When the salesman kills himself in 2.02 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?, he’s listening to “Hoop-Dee-Doo” by Perry Como & The Fontane Sisters.
The Shining
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In 1.09 The Puppet Show, Xander holds up Sid the Dummy and says, “Redrum, Redrum”. Redrum is from Stephen King’s novel The Shining, and for those not in the know, it’s ‘murder’ spelt backwards. The Shining was made into a movie starring Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance. In The Shining, the main character, Jack Torrance, writes the words “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” when he starts to go crazy from cabin fever.
In 2.19 I Only Have Eyes For You, Willow says:
“You’ve been doing that a lot. Patrolling and sacking. In fact, you’ve kind of been All-Work-And-No-Play Buffy.”
In 6.11 Gone, Buffy says:
“All work and no play makes Doris a dull girl”.
In 6.17 Normal Again, Jonathan says:
“I’m going all Jack Torrance here, you know?”.
In 2.02 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been, Angel is staying in room 217 in the hotel. This is the same room number in The Shining in which young Danny Torrance finds a dead woman in the bathtub.
In 3.06 Billy, the scenes of Wesley chasing Fred through the hotel with an axe are reminiscent of the move version of The Shining, in which Jack Torrence does the same thing.
Thesulac demon
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Thesulac demons are cloaked paranoia demons who whisper to their victims, feeding on their innate insecurities. They are tall with chalky skin and tentacles. The Thesulac demon haunting the Hyperion Hotel had claimed the land even before the original building was constructed.
Van Helsing
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In 2.02 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been, Angel says:
“It’s been a long time since I’ve opened a vein, but I’ll do it if you pull any more of that Van Helsing Jr. crap with me. Are we clear?”
Professor Abraham Van Helsing is a Dutch doctor in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula. The character is best known as a vampire hunter.
Visuals of Titanic proportions
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The first time we see the Hyperion Hotel in the 1950s in the Angel episode 2.02 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been, the shooting is stylistically similar to the first time we see the ship Titanic in the eponymous 1997 film. The same sweeping sense of grandeur by something we know, due to the fact that it’s a flashback, will meet a demise. Also… the shot of the staircase.
[Goof] Crouching Angel
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When Denver, the book shop owner in 2.02 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?, is shouting at Angel at the door of his shop, you can see David Boreanaz crouching down in the bottom left hand corner of the screen.