"The Shroud of Rahmon" is the eighth episode of the second season of Angel and the thirtieth episode in the series. Written by Jim Kouf and directed by David Grossman, it was originally broadcast on November 21, 2000, on The WB network.
Synopsis[]
Angel poses as a flashy vampire hoodlum, and with the help of Gunn prevents a mind-altering shroud from falling into the wrong hands.[1]
Summary[]
Two detectives interrogate Wesley about an attempted murder. Wesley tells them everything just went very wrong. Without revealing his name, Wesley explains that Angel wasn't supposed to be there, but, since he's so stubborn, he was there anyway.
In the day before, Wesley stops by the Hyperion Hotel and talks with Cordelia. She's cut her hair and he's noticing it for the first time. Because Angel is on a case with Gunn, Cordelia and Wesley go to a movie premiere.
Angel and Gunn meet with Gunn's cousin, Lester, who asks for their help. His friend E.J. vouched for him to be a driver for a demonic robbery, but he wants nothing to do with it. A vampire Angel knows by reputation, Jay-Don, is being brought in to help. Much to Gunn's dismay, Angel takes charge of the case.
Angel returns to the hotel and finds Kate in his room. She wants information on Darla and, despite the cross she carries, Angel warns her to back off before she is killed, threatening her that, if she comes between him and Darla, it would be the last thing that she would ever do.
Angel meets Jay-Don at the bus station and kills him, then impersonates the vampire, who had been a member of the Rat Pack in the '50s. A demon named Menlo meets with the vampire he thinks is Jay-Don and takes him to the others. Another demon, Vyasa; a human security guard, Bob; and Gunn — pretending to be Lester — complete the team.
Cordelia researches museums to find which one may be the location of the robbery and learns the Southern California Museum of Natural History temporarily contains the Shroud of Rahmon, a mystical object that causes people around it to go insane. Meanwhile, Angel breaks inside the museum, where the Shroud's effect causes him to revert to his vampire visage. Wesley and Cordelia enter the building and are immediately affected as well. The demons, humans, and vampires slowly carry the tomb on a path out of the building and gradually become more erratic and violent towards each other. Vyasa kills Bob by ripping off his head. Wesley encounters Kate in the building and has trouble keeping focused on his mission to help Angel. Wesley confronts Angel and tries to warn him about the Shroud.
Kate finds Angel and the others and pulls a gun on them. Angel confronts her, knocks her gun out of the way, and bites her, flinging her limp form to the ground when he's done. A police team arrives and finds Wesley leaning over Kate's body. The tomb is carried to another building and, due to the Shroud's effect on the demons, they all fight over it. Menlo and Vyasa kill each other, while Gunn and Angel play tug of war with the Shroud until Angel convinces Gunn to let go. After dousing the Shroud in alcohol, Angel sets it aflame.
In the interrogation room, the detectives are convinced that Wesley is the killer. As they're about to arrest him, a wan and pale Kate shows up and tells them to let him go. Alone, Kate touches the bite marks on her neck and reminisces about Angel biting her. Though he bit her briefly, he used it as cover to turn her around so she could see that one of the guys was holding a gun on her, and then to warn her to stay down so they wouldn't kill her.
Afterward, Wesley and Cordelia reflect upon what happened, and Wesley worries that Angel's blood lust has been reawakened by the taste of human blood. Meanwhile, Angel sits in his room, his thoughts focused on biting Kate.
Continuity[]
- In "Slouching Toward Bethlehem," Cordelia will say "yikes" when looking at a photo of her hairstyle in this episode.
- Cordelia assumes Wesley is going to "yet another glamorous celebrity filled gala with Ms. Virginia Bryce." This is the first indication that Wesley and Virginia continued their relationship after "Guise Will Be Guise." Their relationship will continue for several more episodes before Virginia leaves to distance herself from Wesley's demon filled lifestyle ("Reprise").
- Angel deceives Jay-Don by acting like a bumbling fan then the robbery gang by imitating Jay-Don. Angel has previously used his acting skills in episodes such as "Enemies," "City Of," and "Sense & Sensitivity."
- The robbery gang counts on Angel's lack of body heat to not set an alarm. This quality on vampires is visible through a thermal scanner in the episode "The Initiative."
- Cordelia asks why is it always virgin women who have to do the sacrificing. She witnessed attempts of virgin sacrifice against girls in "Reptile Boy" and "Guise Will Be Guise," and she will again in "Inside Out."
- Angel mentions Kate's obsession with her father's death, referring to Trevor Lockley's death at the hands of a vampire associate of Wolfram & Hart in "The Prodigal."
- Angel mentions Gunn's sister, a reference to the events of the episode "War Zone," in which Alonna was captured and turned into a vampire.
- Wesley says that, before Kate, Angel hasn't drunk from a living person in a long time. It's been months since Angel drank from Buffy in the episode "Graduation Day, Part Two."
Appearances[]
Individuals[]
- Angel
- Broomfield
- Virginia Bryce (Only mentioned)
- Jack Carlson (Only mentioned)
- Cordelia Chase
- Darla (Only mentioned)
- Jay-Don
- Earl
- E.J. (Only mentioned)
- Alonna Gunn (Only mentioned)
- Charles Gunn
- Lester
- Kate Lockley
- Trevor Lockley (Only in pictures)
- M. James Menlo
- Rahmon
- Robert Skale
- Turlock
- Vyasa
- Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
Organizations and titles[]
Species[]
- Demon
- Majnu demon (Only mentioned)
- Human
- Vampire
Locations[]
- El Encanto (Only mentioned)
- Las Vegas (Only mentioned)
- Los Angeles
- New Mexico (Only mentioned)
Objects[]
- Blood
- Cross
- Kate Lockley's car
- Los Angeles Globe
- NKO714
- Shroud of Rahmon
- Soul (Only mentioned)
- Stake
Death count[]
- Jay-Don, staked by Angel.
- Bob, beheaded by Vyasa.
- Vyasa, shot in the head by Menlo.
- Menlo, punched into a wall by Vyasa.
Behind the scenes[]
Production[]
- The actor Tom Kiesche, here portraying Detective Broomfield, has also portrayed an unidentified vampire in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "The Gift."
Broadcast[]
- "The Shroud of Rahmon" had an audience of 3.0 million households upon its original airing.[2]
Pop culture references[]
- Cordelia talks about meeting the actor Chow Yun-fat at a party.
- Jay-Don ran with the singer Frank Sinatra and the group of entertainers in the 1950s known as the Rat Pack.
- Searching for museums, Cordelia considers the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Autry Museum of the American West.
- Upon having Vyasa speaking closely to his face, Angel mentions the brand of breath mints Altoids.
- Gunn calls Angel "Elvis," referring to the singer whose music career began in the 1950s.
- Kate requests backup for "possible 459." The California Penal Code 459 refers to burglary.
- Angel asks if Gunn knows how to sing the 1968 song "MacArthur Park."
Goofs[]
- When Jay-Don appears, his reflection can be clearly seen in the bus.
Music[]
- Robert J. Kral — original score
Awards[]
- The episode was nominated for the Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards in the category Best Special Makeup Effects in a Series.[3]
International titles[]
- Czech: "Rahmonův rubáš" (Rahmon's Shroud)
- Finnish: "Paholaisen hautakääreet" (Devil's Shrouds)
- French: "Le linceul qui rend fou" (The Shroud that Drives Crazy)
- German: "Das Leichentuch des Rahmon" (The Shroud of Rahmon)
- Hungarian: "Rahmon ládája" (Rahmon's Chest)
- Italian: "Il sudario di Rahmon" (The Shroud of Rahmon)
- Portuguese (Brazil): "A Mortalha de Rahmon" (The Shroud of Rahmon)
- Russian: "Саван Рамона" (Shroud of Rahmon)
- Spanish (Latin America): "El sudario de Rahmon" (The Shroud of Rahmon)
- Spanish (Spain): "El manto de Rahmon" (The Shroud of Rahmon)
- Turkish: "Rahmon'un Kefeni" (Shroud of Rahmon)
Adaptations[]
- The Buffy the Vampire Slayer action figure "The Shroud of Rahmon" Wesley is based on Wesley in this episode.
Gallery[]
Promotional stills[]
Behind the scenes[]
Quotes[]
Wesley: "What happened to your hair?" |
Cordelia: "Excuse me?" |
Wesley: "Your hair. It's... new. It's great! When did this happen?" |
Cordelia: "Ten days ago." |
Wesley: "Of course! I didn't want to embarrass you by..." |
Cordelia: "Noticing?" |
Wesley: "He doesn't seem to be doing much with his time lately." |
Cordelia: "Au contraire, his day is packed. Brood about Darla, brood about Darla, lunch, followed by a little Darla brooding." |
Cordelia: "Time to traipse off to your soul-sucking Hollywood party?" |
Wesley: "Premiere, actually. And, uh, I happen to have an extra ticket." |
Cordelia: "Who does shallow better than me?" |
Cordelia: "Okay, here we go. Site map, membership, museum shop...don't they have a section like, things you might want to steal?" |
Cordelia: "Why is it always virgin women who have to do the sacrificing? |
Wesley: "For purity, I suppose." |
Cordelia: "This has nothing to do with purity. This is all about dominance, buddy. You can bet that if someone ordered a male body part for religious sacrifice, the world would be atheist like that." |
References[]
- ↑ "Episode Guide." Loony Archivist. Retrieved on October 18, 2022.
- ↑ "Nielsen Ratings for Angel's Second Season." Nielsen Ratings for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, & Firefly. Archived from the original on July 19, 2008.
- ↑ Rob Francis, "News - 19th February." BBC, February 19, 2001.