Angel/Dear Boy

Dear Boy
Season 2, Episode 5
Airdate	October 24, 2000
Production Number	2ADH05
Written by	David Greenwalt
Directed by	David Greenwalt
← 2x04 Untouched	2x06 → Guise Will Be Guise
Angel — Season Two

Dear Boy is the fifth episode of the second season of Angel, and the twenty-seventh episode overall. Angel becomes aware of Darla's presence and confronts her.

David Boreanaz (Angel), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), Alexis Denisof (Wesley Wyndam-Pryce), J. August Richards (Charles Gunn)

Guest Starring: Elisabeth Rohm (Kate Lockley), Christian Kane (Lindsey McDonald), Andy Hallett (Caritas Host), Juliet Landau (Drusilla), Julie Benz (Darla)

Co-Starring: Stewart Skelton (Harold Jenkins), Sal Rendino (Man), Cheryl White (Claire), Matt North (Stephen), Derek Anthony (Hotel Security Guy), Darren Kennedy (Cop #1), Rich Hutchman (Detective Carlson)

Plot Overview

Angel begins seeing Darla in the waking world. However, she is not only passing herself as someone else, but is revealed to have come back human. As he becomes obsessed over her presence, everyone begins fearing the worst.

Notes

Monster of the Week

• The only "monsters" in this episode are the Thrall, which is quickly killed off and not expanded upon, and Darla.

Body Count

#	Whom	By Whom	How	Where
1	Thrall	Gunn	Axe to the Head	Water Tank
2	"Stephen"	Vampire	Blood Drained	"Stephen"'s Home

Music

Music listed in order of appearance in the episode:

• Damn! - "Stinky Stinky Ashtray"

• Wang Chung - "Everybody Have Fun Tonight"

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Angel Investigations: Angel's private investigation business has apparently changed its slogan from "We help the helpless" to "We solve big problems for small prices."

• Wolfram & Hart: Lindsey's plan is still unclear, but his first stage apparently involved pushing Angel into becoming evil once again by destroying his faith in humanity and getting Darla to seduce him.

Characters

• Angel: Angel is finally let onto the fact that Darla is alive and well. Angel also comments that he's 247 years old.

• Kate: Kate has been demoted to desk work outside of the main precinct downtown due to her obsession with the unnatural.

• Drusilla: A majority of Drusilla's insanity appears to come from the trauma she suffered from Angel killing her family and transforming her into a vampire. The remainder of it likely came from her inherent abilities to see visions of the future.

• Darla: The fact that Darla came back as a human and not a vampire is confirmed in this episode. In her previous appearances, it was left ambiguous.

Referbacks

• BtVS - 1x07 - Angel: Angel staked Darla at the Bronze.

Wesley: What you're saying is impossible, you staked her to dust three and a half years ago.

• 1x22 - To Shanshu in L.A.: Wolfram & Hart brought Darla back to life in a huge crate while Angel fought with another demon they hired to cause him trouble.

Angel: So you're what Wolfram and Hart brought back in that box.

Trivia

The Show

• First Apperance: This episode marks the first episode in which Drusilla crosses over from Buffy the Vampire Slayer into the spin-off series.

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 17 WB shows which aired that week.

• Uncredited: Despite not being in the credits for writing the episode, Marti Noxon wrote several scenes in this episode, including Angel's confrontation with Darla in the water tank.

Allusions and References

• Fictional Detectives: Wesley gives the names of two fictional detectives. Sherlock Holmes was a character created in the late 1880s by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The detective was notoriously talented and only applied his skill to cases of extreme difficulty. Philip Marlowe was a private eye created in the 1930s by Raymond Chandler who was notably pessimistic and cynical.

Wesley: Oh he's eccentric, all the great are. Sherlock Holmes, Phillip Marlowe...

• Bonnie & Clyde: Bonnie and Clyde were two notorious criminals who plagued the central United States during the 1930s. The Barrow Gang was most well known for their bank robberies up until 1934 when Texas and Louisiana police ambushed Bonnie and Clyde and shot them dead.

Cordelia: Imagine Bonnie and Clyde if they'd had a hundred and fifty years to get it right.

Quotes

• Wesley: We made you some tea.

Angel: Great.

Cordelia: It's on the table right there in front of you.

Angel: Table seems far.

Cordelia: Ah, you must be all worn out from sleeping for the past three days. It's like living with the world's oldest teenager. He can't be having a growth spurt at 248, could he?

Angel: 247.

• Cordelia: According to my figures, if we're frugal and garner some paying clientele soon, we're financially sound through last Wednesday.

Wesley: What? Where's it all going?

Cordelia: Well, there's the fixed costs — the mortgage on the giant hotel, my salary — there's lots of other...

Wesley: Well, what about my salary? That's fixed, too.

Cordelia: What if every time you identified a demon in one of your big 'ole books we gave you ten bucks? Or a chicken pot pie.

Wesley: Wait, I have another idea - no! Get a vision.

Cordelia: Well, it's not like you can hit me in the head and "wham!" it happens.

Wesley: What if we test that theory with one of my big 'ole books?

• Gunn: You are not paying me enough for this. My uncle Theo always said never buy a dull plow and never get in the middle of a religious war.

Cordelia: You really have an Uncle Theo?

Gunn: No, but it's still good advice.

• Jeakins: Do you think my wife's cheating on me?

Angel: Probably.

• (talking about Angel)

Wesley: Oh, he's an eccentric. All the great ones are. Sherlock Holmes, Phillip Marlowe...

Jeakins: Those are fictional characters.

Wesley: Yes, right you are, which gives Angel rather a leg up when you come to think of it.

• Cordelia: (while Angel is smelling her hair) Personal bubble. Personal bubble!

• (talking about Darla)

Wesley: Vampires don't come back from the dead.

Angel: I did and I saw her. I'm not crazy.

Wesley: Where?

Angel: Right between the clowns and the big talking hot dog.

• (after going undercover)

Cordelia: That was really fun. The public humiliation, running from the hotel security staff, and the nifty little outfit which seemed to tell so many conventioneers, "Pet me, I'm a whore."

• Angel: It was Darla. She's back, and she's human now, but I know her scent.

Wesley: Angel, you can't just sniff a person and know--

Angel: You had sex last night with a bleached blonde.

Wesley: Good Lord! How'd you...?

Cordelia: That's unbelievable. (to Wesley) I didn't think you ever had sex.

• Angelus: Convents. They're just a big cookie jar.

• Kate: You want to protect him even though he's lost it. He stalked that woman because he thought she was this Darla from his past. She begged him to stay out and he knocked down the door and killed her husband. I've read about him, too. I know what he is and I know he hasn't changed.

Gunn: No, he hasn't. He's still a vampire.

Cordelia: Gunn - not helping.

Gunn: So how'd he get into that house? She invite him in?

Kate: Of course she didn't in...

• Angel: You're gonna feel it, you know. What you did. That man you got killed.

Darla: Please. He was an actor.

Angel: I'm serious.

Darla: Yeah, like a heart attack and just about as much fun.

Angel: Darla, you hurt anyone else and I'll kill you.

Darla: Will you? Isn't that against your Cub Scout code?

• (to Angel, after burning him with a cross)

Darla: You see, no matter how good a boy you are, God doesn't want you! But I still do.