From The TV IV

Heartthrob is the first episode of the third season of Angel, and the forty-fifth episode overall.

Special Guest Star: Julie Benz (Darla)

Guest Stars: Andy Hallett (Lorne), Ron Melendez (James), Kate Norby (Elisabeth)

And: Keith Szarabajka (Holtz)

Co-Stars: Matthew James (Merl), Koji Kataoka (Pilgrim), Sam Littlefield (Young Man Hostage), Dalila Brown-Geiger (Sandy), Christian Hastings (Vamp #1). Bob Fimiani (Codger Demon), Robert Madrid (Rough Man), Bob Morrisey (Dr. Gregson)

Contents 1 Plot Overview 2 Notes 2.1 Monster of the Week 2.2 Body Count 2.3 Music 3 Arc Advancement 3.1 Happenings 3.2 Characters 3.3 Referbacks 4 Trivia 4.1 The Show 4.2 Behind the Scenes 4.3 Allusions and References 4.4 Memorable Moments 5 Quotes 6 Reviews

[edit] Plot Overview

[edit] Notes

[edit] Monster of the Week

• There is no monster of the week in this episode that gets a great deal of detail other than James.

[edit] Body Count

#	Whom	By Whom	How	Where
1	Vampire	Gunn	Staked	Empty Street
2	Vampire	Wesley	Staked	Empty Street
3	Elisabeth	Angel	Staked	Empty Street
4	Vampire	James	Burst into Flames	Car Wreck Site
5	James	—	Dusted	Subway Car
8	Nicaraguan Man	Darla	Blood Drained	Bar

[edit] Music

Music is listed in order of appearance in the episode:

• Crystal Method - The Winner
• Douglas Cross and George Cory - I Left My Heart in San Francisco
• Morphic Field - Blackjack

[edit] Arc Advancement

[edit] Happenings

[edit] Characters

• Angel: After hearing about Buffy's death, Angel disappeared for 3 months to go to a spiritual retreat in Sri Lanka. Or, at least that's what he thought he was going to do. It turns out they were demon monks.

• Cordelia: The visions Cordelia has been receiving seem to be getting worse with each occurrence.

• Darla: Darla is in Nicaragua looking for a shaman. She's also extremely pregnant, presumably with Angel's child even though vampires are supposed to be sterile.

[edit] Referbacks

• 2x22 - There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb: When we last left the characters, they rescued Fred from Pylia, where Cordelia was a princess.

• 1x03 - In the Dark: After an incident in Sunnydale, Oz delivered the ring of Amarra to Angel. The ring rendered vampires invulnerable, but Angel smashed it when he realized that it wouldn't make up for his atonement.

Cordelia: The ring of Amarra, when you had that, you were invincible. Does he have a ring?

[edit] Trivia

[edit] The Show

• Creditted: This is the first episode in which Amy Acker gains billing for her role as Fred Burkle.
• Cameo in Name Only: The two vampire lovers in this episode were named after David Greenwalt's assistant on the show, Elisabeth James. Greenwalt wrote and directed this episode.

[edit] Behind the Scenes

• Aspect Ratio: This is the first episode of the series that is broadcast in widescreen in its original airing. The second season was also shot in widescreen, but it was only broadcast as such on the European DVD release. According to the DVD commentary on this episode, Tim Minear said that the reason why they went with widescreen was to distance the series from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which moved to UPN during this season.
• Cut Scene: A scene in which Cordelia explains the significance of Elisabeth's necklace to Angel, Gunn and Wesley was cut from this episode due to time. The exchange went as follows:

Cordelia: You see me wearing Curt Eisenthorpe's football ring or Xander's meet medallion?

(All three men look at her. Gunn turns to Wesley and Angel.)

Gunn: I'd like to take this one. (To Cordelia) So... What kind of meat did he have that earned him a medallion?

Cordelia: Not that kind of meet. Swim meet, he was on the swim team. Get your mind out of the gutter. All of you!

• Ratings: On its first airing, this episode scored a 4.2/6 in the overnight Nielsen ratings. It was ranked 2nd out of the 12 WB shows which aired that week.

[edit] Allusions and References

• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Fred tells Angel that when everything makes sense again, there's a click in your brain. This line is paraphrased from the Tennessee Williams play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, where Brick said the same thing.

Fred: When it all comes together and makes sense, there's like a click in your brain and you understand things again.

[edit] Memorable Moments

[edit] Quotes

• Wesley: Gunn and I'll hit the streets, see what our sources can tell us.
  Cordelia: Uh-huh, see? We have sources now.
  Angel: Wow. You're almost like real detectives.
  Gunn: Hey!

[edit] Reviews

• Overall Grade: no reviews yet
• Review Breakdown: A+: 0 A: 0 A-: 0 B+: 0 B: 0 B-: 0 C+: 0 C: 0 C-: 0 D: 0 F: 0