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Original Air Date: October 3, 2000

Written byTim Minear
Directed by David Semel

Summary

Angel is having Wesley and Cordelia do research on the abandoned Hyperion Hotel but he won't tell them why, he wants to know who owns it and what all the past problems have been with the hotel.

Flashback to 1952 where the Hyperion Hotel is now a very busy place. The bellhop goes reluctantly upstairs to drop a letter off for the owner of room 214. He knocks on the door and leaves the letter on the floor and exits quickly because the person inside gives him the creeps. The door is then opened by Angel looking very 1950ish.

Back to the present - Angel goes to visit the Hyperion Hotel. He enters the lobby and then flashes back to 1952: A quiet and reserved Angel enters his apartment with a bag containing blood, getting various stares from people who he creeps out. Angel goes to get ice to keep his blood chilled and returns to find a lady in his room. He knows immediately that she's not a maid even though she pretends to be. She tells him that she's afraid of her boyfriend but he wants nothing more than to get her out of his room. She pleads and when the lock on his door starts to turn open he hides her and then opens the door to find a man trying to pick his lock. The man is looking for the lady and tries to get in but Angel won't have it and violently takes the man and shoves him into the elevator and re-enters his room, leaving the lady, Judy, outside.

Present -Wesley and Cordelia, digging into the hotel's history, find that the place has always been a source of death and the owner has been trying to sell it for 10 years. Cordelia comes across photo of Angel at the hotel from 1952 and she and Wesley can't figure out why Angel wouldn't tell them this information.

1952 - A man is hearing whispers directed towards him and it seems to be coming from the house. The whispers are so convincing that the man takes a gun and shoots himself in the head. Later on, the bellhop and the manager of the hotel finds the body and decide to store him in the meat locker and not to call the police to avoid getting shutdown. Every now and then a little voice whispers to the patrons of the hotel telling them to be afraid. That night Angel is outside when Judy stops to say hi and thanks him for helping her the other night, but Angel barely registers her thanks. Later on Judy invites Angel into her room and tells him that the supposed suicide in 214 was actually a murder and the police will be around asking questions. Judy then tells him that she stole large amounts of money from the bank where she used to work before she got fired because her mother was coloured and she had been passing for white. She's scared that the police will find her but Angel plans to help her. He hides the money in the basement and while he's down there he starts hearing the whispering of the hotel and he's convinced that it's making people in this hotel crazy.

Present - Angel finds the case of money, still full and covered in dust in the same place he left it almost 50 years ago. He then calls Wesley and tells him that it was a Thesulac demon that was inhabiting the hotel and it was feeding off of others insecurities. Apparently the demon is still in the hotel and he wants to raise the demon in order to kill it.

1952 - Angel visits a bookie to get info on killing the Thesulac demon. Meanwhile patrons of the hotel are arguing constantly about the murders taking place and they start accusing each other of havng committed the crimes.

Present - Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn meet Angel at the hotel and they begin the spell to raise the demon.

1952 - Judy is found by the private investigator that was looking for her and they think that she's the murderer. Angel appears and suddenly Judy sees him and blames Angel for the murders in order to save herself. She tells them about the blood in his room and that he's an evil person. Angel is swept up in a crowd of hostile people who carry him to the balcony and attach his head to a noose. Among the cheers of the hotel patrons and the tears of Judy, Angel is hung in the lobby. When everybody leaves Angel releases himself from the noose and drops to the floor. Thesulac then appears before him and tells him that humans will always turn their backs on him even after he'd helped them out. Angel has had enough with humans and tells the demon to "take them all" in the hotel.

Present - The Thesulac demon materializes before the gang. It taunts Angel but he grabs one of the demon's tentacles and sticks it into a fuse box, electrocuting the demon to death. Angel then heads upstairs to room 214 and inside he finds a very much aged Judy. She recognizes him immediately and tells him that he looks the same as he always has but he tells her that he isn't the same anymore. She regrets her actions and he tells her that she's safe now. He takes her to her bed where she lies down peacefully while Angel forgives her for her actions. With his heart at ease, Angel heads back downstairs and informs Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn that he's moving in, despite their protests.

Summary written by Nika

Quote of the Week

Wesley: Please, and do be careful. Ancient conjuring orbs are notoriously fragile.
[Gunn tosses the orb to Wesley]
Wesley: ANGEL!
Angel: Guys, don't listen to it, alright? Whatever it's whispering to you, just ignore it.
Cordelia: They were like this all the way over here in the car.
Angel: Oh.

My Rating

2.5/5

Nika Summers' Comments

Decent I guess but it didn't really inspire much in me. The part I liked the most was the ending with Judy all old and stuff. Personally though, had I been that lady I would have had a heart attack upon seeing Angel, especially when you feel like you're the one who got him killed. My big question is: Did she actualyl die at the end? The first time I watched it I was thinking yes and then I watched it again when I had to write up the summary and I was like "Well, maybe she didn't die after all." But she must have died... Another big issue was (and I don't remember who pointed this out to me but...) if Angel was so clean cut in the 1950s, sure he was broody and stuff, then what the hell happened to him between that time and the time Whistler found him? My god, that's one hell of a 180! He was doing okay, he was buying blood and then suddenly in the 1990s he's living off the streets eating rats when Whistler finds him? That doesn't really make any sense. Anyway, kind of a dull episode but at least now we know where the headquarters are going to be (for this season at least, until they blow it up).

Niki Bartl's Comments

What is with these episodes where I'm confused for half the time and then totally see the light? It was fun seeing Angel starting to help people but then giving up, I think that we all give up sometimes. Anyways, starting from the beginning, this episode started off quite the boring little show. Mostly because my television was turned down pretty low so I could just barely hear the whisperings. I loved the end, however. It's funny, because on Saturday I saw The Exorcist, and you know where she gets a really gross, cracked face? My two best friends were totally creeped out, but it didn't bother me! I was like "I've seen worse on Angel!" My only issue is that everything on Angel feeds off of your insecurities or paranoia! Is there anything in the evil underworld that doesn't! My last question is if Angel buys the hotel, what the hell is he gonna do with all the rooms?

Cast

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