From The TV IV

I Fall to Pieces is the fourth episode of the first season of Angel, and the fourth episode overall. Doyle's visions point Angel towards a woman being stalked by a doctor who can detach his own body parts.

Guest Stars: Elisabeth Rohm (Kate Lockley), Tushka Bergen (Melissa Burns), Andy Umberger (Doctor Ronald Meltzer), Carlos Carrasco (Doctor Vinpur Narpudan)

Co-Stars: Brent Sexton (Beat Cop), Garikayi Mutambirwa (Intern), Kent Davis (John), Jan Bartlett (Penny), Patricia Gillum (Woman Patient), Christopher Hart (Hand Performance By)

Contents 1 Plot Summary 2 Notes 2.1 Monster of the Week 2.2 Body Count 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 Summary

A woman comes to Angel seeking help when an eye surgeon, who she went on a date with out of gratitude after he saved her sight, starts stalking her. He has developed the supernatural power to psychically separate pieces of his body and control them remotely. Angel helps the woman track down her stalker and defends her from his many attacks, which include strangling a policeman to death with his disembodied arms. In the end Angel defeats the evil Doctor and locks his many body pieces in different steel boxes and buries them so he cannot reform himself.

[edit] Notes

[edit] Monster of the Week

• Dr. Meltzer: Although he isn't a demon or a monster, Dr. Meltzer is a surgeon whose techniques are radical and far outside medical ethics like reattaching eyes and performing dangerous surgery. Using certain mental techniques, Meltzer can detach body parts and control them using only his mind. However, if his body parts remain detached for too long, they begin to deteriorate.

[edit] Body Count

#	Whom	By Whom	How	Where
1	Cop	Dr. Meltzer	Strangled	Melissa's Bedroom
2	Dr. Meltzer	Angel	Divided and Boxed Up	Angel Investigations

[edit] Arc Advancement

[edit] Happenings

• Wolfram & Hart: The supernatural lawfirm pops up again, this time as the legal representation for Dr. Meltzer.
• Angel Investigations: The agency gets their first legitimate check, or at least their first check on screen.

[edit] Characters

• Angel: Although evil, Dr. Meltzer is still a human being. When Angel murdered him, it set the standard of an unclear moral line that is much more ambiguous than the line between good and evil in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

[edit] Referbacks

• 1x02 - Lonely Hearts: The demon which Cordelia refers to was the subject of the second episode of the series. A burrower demon was attacking singles at a club.

Cordelia: Which last time led to a sex-changing-body-switching-tear-your-innards-out-demon, right.

[edit] Trivia

[edit] The Show

• Ratings: During its original airing, this episode scored a 4.9/7 in Nielson ratings. It was ranked 3rd out of all 15 WB shows.

[edit] Behind the Scenes

• Script Transition: Originally, this was meant to be a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode, but it was moved when the producers figured that it better fit Angel's style than Buffy's.

[edit] Allusions and References

• Johnnie Cochran: Johnnie Cochran is a high profile lawyer who once notably defended O.J. Simpson in his murder trial. Cochran was well known for being theatrical and over-the-top, qualities which were notably parodied in a South Park episode called Chef Aid.

Kate: Wolfram & Hart. They're the law firm that Johnnie Cochran is too ethical to join.

• O.J. Simpson: Cordelia refers to O.J. Simpson, a former football player and one-time murder suspect. In 1994, Simpson was tried in criminal court for the alleged murder of his ex-wife and her friend.

Cordelia: What is it about Melissa that got him to go all O.J. on her?

• People: Doyle is quoting a line from the song "People" from the 1968 musical, Funny Girl. The movie starred Barbara Streisand as a semi-biographical take on Fannie Brice.

Doyle: Well, people need people. And people who need people are the luckiest...

• Harry Houdini: Houdini was a magician and escape artist during the early 1900s. Houdini performed his escapes on the vaudeville circuit, often entertaining audiences by escaping from elaborate handcuff traps and straitjackets.

Kate: How could he do it? I mean, she's got bars on her windows. The security cameras in the hallway show our officers going in and nobody suspicious all day. I mean, who is this guy, Houdini?

• Tangled Web: Meltzer quotes a line from Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field by Sir Walter Scott. The full line is "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive."

Meltzer: I mean your name is not really Jensen. You don't have a wife. What a tangled web, eh?

[edit] Memorable Moments

[edit] Quotes

• Cordelia: We need more of these now. Have a vision.
  Doyle: I can't just perform on demand.
  Cordelia: We need the clients. Have a vision.
  Doyle: That money has corrupted you.
  Cordelia: If I hit you on the head, will you have a vision?
  Doyle: Get away from me. You're insane.

[edit] Reviews

• Overall Grade: N/A with 0 reviews
• Review Breakdown: A+: 0 A: 0 A-: 0 B+: 0 B: 0 B-: 0 C+: 0 C: 0 C-: 0 D: 0 F: 0

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