Angel/Habeas Corpses

Habeas Corpses
Season 4, Episode 8
Airdate	January 15, 2003
Production Number	4ADH08
Written by	Jeffrey Bell
Directed by	Skip Schoolnik
← 4x07 Apocalypse, Nowish	4x09 → Long Day's Journey
Angel — Season Four

Habeas Corpses is the eighth episode of the fourth season of Angel, and the seventy-fourth episode overall. The Beast goes on a rampage in the Wolfram & Hart offices, but when Connor is trapped inside, the gang must go in and save him at risk of their own lives.

David Boreanaz (Angel), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), J. August Richards (Charles Gunn), Amy Acker (Winifred "Fred" Burkle), Vincent Kartheiser (Connor)

and Alexis Denisof (Wesley Wyndam-Pryce)

Special Guest Star: Andy Hallett (Lorne)

Guest Starring: Stephanie Romanov (Lilah Morgan), Daniel Dae Kim (Gavin Park), Vladimir Kulich (The Beast)

Co-Starring: Kay Panabaker (Little Girl)

Plot Overview

In the aftermath of the devastation brought upon by the Beast, Connor believes he’s connected and seeks information from Wolfram & Hart. The Beast soon follows and begins massacring everyone inside. However, the building has unique security measures and Connor becomes trapped, leaving Angel to go into rescue him.

Notes

Monster of the Week

• Zombies: The Wolfram & Hart lawyers turn into zombies after being killed. There is no major difference between the zombies of this episode and popular zombie myths. They're slow moving and crave human flesh. The only way to kill a zombie is to stop brain activity by destroying the brain itself or cutting off the head. The one difference in this situation is that a person cannot be turned into a zombie by being bit by one, they can only turn after dying.

Body Count

#	Whom	By Whom	How	Where
1	Gavin Park	The Beast	Snapped Neck	Wolfram & Hart
2	Little Girl	The Beast	Lifeforce Drained	White Room
Lots (100+)	Lawyers	The Beast	Various	Wolfram & Hart

Music

There is no licensed music in this episode.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Wolfram & Hart: The Beast goes a rampage in the Los Angeles office of Wolfram & Hart and kills at least 90% of the people inside. The only recurring lawyer who survives is Lilah. The rest of the lawyers turn into zombies for an unknown reason. Also killed is the little girl in the White Room.

Referbacks

• 3x17 - Forgiving: Angel ventured into the White Room when he kidnapped Linwood and tortured him for information. It was there that he was advised on how to bring Sahjhan back to corporeal form.

Angel: There is one other way. The White Room. It's an interdimensional space here at Wolfram & Hart.

Trivia

The Show

• Final Appearance: This episode is the final appearance of Gavin Park in the series on the count of becoming a zombie and later being decapitated by Gunn.

Behind the Scenes

• Ratings: On its first airing, this episode scored a 3.2/5 in the overnight Nielsen ratings.

Allusions and References

• Habeas Corpus: The title of the episode is a reference to a writ of habeas corpus. The writ is a court order that compels a prisoner to come before a judge in a court of law. Typically, habeas corpus proceedings in the United States involve an investigation into whether or not a criminal trial was conducted fairly.

Quotes

• Wesley: There is a line, Lilah. Black and white. Good and evil.

Lilah: Funny thing about black and white: you mix it together and you get grey. And it doesn't matter how much white you try and put back in, you're never gonna get anything but grey. And I don't see your Texas gal pal wearing that colour. Come to think of it, she prefers black.

• Lilah: Go downstairs and check it out.

(Gavin shakes his head)

Lilah: Gavin, ask yourself this question: what are you more afraid of, a giant murderous demon or me?

Gavin: Be right back.

• Lilah: Do you have any idea what this thing wants?

Connor: Everybody dead.

• Angel: You know where it is. The Beast.

Wesley: Inside Wolfram and Hart. And so is...

Gunn: Well, that answers a lot of questions. They're probably having a big sit-down, breaking bread.

Wesley: It's killing everything that moves in there.

Gunn: I've heard worse news.

• Angel: Somebody should stay here and mind the store.

Lorne: Oh! Me, me me! Sergeant Stay-At-Home volunteering for duty, sir.

• Connor: He looks dead.

Angel: He is dead. Technically, he's undead. He's a zombie.

Conner: What's a zombie?

Angel: It's an undead thing.

Connor: Like you?

Angel: No. Zombies are slow-moving, dimwitted things that crave human flesh.

Connor: Like you.

Angel: No! It's different. Trust me.

• Gunn: What the hell was that?

Wesley: Zombies.

Gunn: Yeah, thanks for the newsflash, Captain Obvious.

• Angel: The only way to kill a zombie is to stop its brain activity. Cut off its head, smash in its skull. Luckily, they're slow and stupid, so we have a decent chance of beating them. (peeks around the corner) Unless, of course, there's hundreds of 'em.

• Gunn: So what's it say about the Big Bad Wolf if he can just stride right in and suck the energy out of Evil Red Riding Hood?

• Cordelia: I'm just glad that everyone's safe and together again.

Angel: Me, too. Now take your new boyfriend and get the hell out of here.