Buffyverse Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Buffyverse Wiki
Note: This article is about the Angel episode. For the Angel novel, see Sanctuary (novel).

Template:Angelepisode

"Sanctuary" is the nineteenth episode of the first season of Angel and the nineteenth episode overall. Co-written by Tim Minear and series creator Joss Whedon and directed by Michael Lange, it was originally broadcast on May 2, 2000 on the WB network.

Convinced that Faith is capable of changing her ways, Angel continues to try to help her even as Buffy, the Watchers Council, Wolfram & Hart, and the L.A.P.D. all try to hunt her down. Meanwhile, Wesley faces a crisis of loyalties when the Watchers Council Special Operations Team offers to reinstate him if he helps them capture Faith.

Synopsis

Picking up where "Five by Five" left off, Angel takes Faith to his apartment. In a brief, violent vision, Faith charges at Angel with a knife and cuts up his face. When Angel comes up for food to feed Faith, Wesley argues about giving Faith another chance, and Cordelia gets Angel to sign several checks to fund her vacation, so she can be gone for as long as Faith is around.

After Faith starts reliving her past crimes, she attempts to leave Angel's. However, he extends the same invitation to help her as he did in "Consequences " and she returns. Downstairs, Faith confesses to Angel that she is haunted by visions of her violent past in Sunnydale and inadvertently reveals that Buffy is dating someone else. Angel talks to Faith about redemption, saying she has to make amends for her crimes, no matter how hard it is. Meanwhile, Wesley plays darts at a bar, and encounters Weatherby, a member of the Watchers' Council's Special Operations Team on the hunt for Faith. The council members give Wesley an opportunity to come back to the Watchers Council if he's willing to turn in Faith. They give him a syringe that, if injected, will sedate Faith and let them take her back to England. Wesley agrees to the plan on the condition that Angel remains unharmed, and Weatherby reluctantly agrees.

Lindsey McDonald, Lilah Morgan and Lee Mercer, upset that Faith has teamed up with Angel, hire a demon to have her killed. In Angel's apartment, he comforts Faith after she hears a warrant for her arrest on the news. Suddenly, the demon sneaks into Angel's apartment and attacks. Faith kills it with a knife, and then is frightened by the sight of the demon's blood on her hands. Without warning, Buffy arrives at Angel's place and is shocked to find Angel hugging Faith.

Buffy is determined to turn Faith in to the police as revenge for all the trouble she recently caused in Sunnydale , but Angel objects and the two come to blows. Buffy hits Angel and when he hits her back, both she and Angel are in utter shock and Buffy is offended that he would punch her for Faith. He immediately apologizes to her. Wesley arrives with the news that the Council is looking for Faith, and Buffy confirms that they'll kill her if they get their hands on her. The two Slayers escape to the roof, where they argue about everything that has happened. Though Faith is genuinely sorry for what she has done and asks for another chance, Buffy is unwilling to forgive her for what happened claiming that all she's ever done is screw up her life by targeting Angel and then Riley and made her feel helpless. Collins attacks Buffy and Faith as Smith hovers above the roof in a helicopter. Inside the apartment, Wesley stabs Weatherby with the syringe while Angel runs upstairs and as the two Slayers seek cover against their attackers, Angel bursts through the roof skylight and gets inside the helicopter, throwing Smith out on the roof and ordering the pilot to take the helicopter down.

Detective Kate Lockley - guided by Lindsey's information - arrests Angel for harboring the fugitive Faith. When Angel and Kate, with Wesley and Buffy in tow, arrive at the police station, they are surprised to see Faith is voluntarily confessing to her crimes. Later, Buffy admits to Angel how hard it was for her to see Faith with him. Angel counters by saying it was not about Buffy, it was about saving Faith's soul. Buffy proceeds to explain that she had come because he was in danger, but Angel is not fooled and accuses her of looking for revenge on Faith, which she does not deny. Buffy lashes out by telling Angel she has someone else in her life, and unlike her relationship with Angel, she can actually trust her new boyfriend.

Infuriated and hurt, Angel launches a tirade against Buffy, reminding her that, while it's great that she has moved on he himself cannot and has no one to share his pain, climaxing when he informs Buffy that she doesn't know him anymore and that she has no right to just show up with her "great new life" and tell him how to do things before harshly demanding that she go back to Sunnydale immediately. Buffy complies after a slight hesitation, complaining that "Faith wins again." As soon as she is gone, Angel regrets his harsh words and decides to head to Sunnydale to make his own amends while Wesley assures him that he believes Angel was right when he said that Faith could still be redeemed despite everything that had happened. Meanwhile, Faith manages to find peace in her jail cell.

Photos

Continuity

  • This is the first time that Angel sees Buffy after the events of "I Will Remember You", which probably contributes to his reaction to her presence.
  • This also marks the first time that Angel learns that Buffy has actually moved on from him, showing genuine surprise and pain when Faith mentions that Buffy has a new boyfriend. His visible hurt is also seen again when Buffy confirms she has a new boyfriend and she can actually trust him.
  • This is the last time that Buffy and Wesley meet and interact onscreen as well as the only episode of Angel in which both characters appear. It is also the first time they have been onscreen together since the Buffy Season Three finale "Graduation Day, Part Two".
  • This is also the last episode in which both Buffy and Cordelia appear, although they do not actually meet in the episode. The last time that they interact is "I Will Remember You".
  • When having a confrontation with Buffy, Faith questioned "You gonna throw me off a roof? Again?". This was a reference to Buffy's near-kill of Faith in "Graduation Day, Part One".
  • Crossover with Buffy: Buffy comes to LA to help Angel deal with Faith in this episode. After this episode, Angel visits Sunnydale in "The Yoko Factor" to sort things out with Buffy.
  • This episode has the largest amount of crossover characters in a single episode of Buffy or Angel at five: Buffy, Faith, Collins, Smith and Weatherby. In total, eight characters in this episode made their first appearances in Buffy, namely Angel, Cordelia, Wesley and the aforementioned five crossovers characters.
  • This is the last time that Sarah Michelle Gellar appears on the show; though Angel and Spike glimpse a girl whom they believe to be Buffy in "The Girl in Question", it is revealed in the canonical Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight comics that the person they saw was a decoy. She was supposed to appear in the season 5 episode "You're Welcome" to help Angel back on track, but since she was unable to, the episode was re-written and Charisma Carpenter was used instead.
  • At the beginning of the episode, as Angel leaves Faith to rest, she calls out his name as if to thank him, but when he turns back she changes her mind and simply says "Nothing." This echoes a scene between Faith and Buffy in "Revelations" in which Faith seems ready to thank Buffy, calls her name and then changes her mind, saying "Nothing."
  • In a argument with Buffy, Faith had emotionally declared: "You're all about control! You don't know what it's like to be full of pain and hate. That nothing you do means anything!". Two years later, Buffy would understand what a lack of control and to have only pain/hate in life like Faith did when she was ripped from Heaven, falling into all-consuming depression.
  • Wesley and Angel's argument about protecting Faith mirrors elements of Giles and Buffy's conversation regarding Angel in "Revelations". Buffy was attempting to shield Angel from harm, just as Angel is now attempting to protect Faith. In both cases, the person opposed to the action issues a reminder that they were tortured by the person being protected — Angelus tortured Giles, and Faith tortured Wesley. This parallel strengthens the connection between Angel and Faith in their rediscovery of humanity, which was a focus of the previous episode in the flashbacks to Romania.
  • Buffy's belief that Faith was merely playing Angel calls back to the events of "Enemies," in which Faith went to Angel for help as a ploy to seduce him in order to turn him back into Angelus.
  • Angel references his attempt to rehabilitate Faith in "Consequences", reminding her he told her she didn't have to go into the darkness.
  • The Watchers special ops team sent to retrieve Faith is the same team that tried to capture her in "This Year's Girl" and "Who Are You". Wesley correctly surmises that Faith defeated an earlier attempt to capture her, but is not aware that at that time it was actually Buffy in Faith's body who escaped.
  • Initially enemies, this episode marks the beginning of a real friendship between Angel and Faith which would peak in season four and in Angel & Faith.
  • Lilah talks about how Angel can't be killed, even by a Vampire Slayer before saying "rumor has it he used to actually date one", meaning word of his relation with Buffy has extended beyond Sunnydale.

Body Count

  • Angel, killed by Faith (only in her imagination)
  • Demon assassin, killed by Faith with a knife

Behind the Scenes

Production

  • Production designer Stuart Blatt says that filming this episode was challenging due to scheduling problems with Sarah Michelle Gellar. Just a few days before shooting, they learned Gellar would not be available to work outside on the night the scene was supposed to be filmed. "We had to take our rooftop setting and split it into two and shoot everything on the rooftop looking out towards the city in one direction with the real helicopter on the rooftop. Then on the stage, recreate the exact rooftop looking the other direction, shoot everything there, and marry them seamlessly," he explains. "It was one of the more impressive things we ever pulled off."
  • Usually, Joss Whedon's name is listed first in episodes he has co-written and is credited for. In this episode, Tim Minear's name is listed first because he approached the editor and (jokingly) told him that his name comes first.
  • Writer Tim Minear says the script for this episode was difficult, because "it was Faith as we had never seen her before. It was sort of easy when it was evil Faith, which was a lot of fun. The problem was trying to make her turn realistic." He admitted to being nervous about writing Buffy's scenes because of the challenge of writing to her character and tone. He convinced Whedon to come in and write all of Buffy's scenes.
  • Joss Whedon made this comment on the confrontation between Buffy and Angel: "The last scene between Buffy and Angel in the crossover where she comes to Angel, that stumped us for a long time. And I finally realized when I was working on it that it's because they need to fight now. They can't be just like, 'Oh, we're swell pals and we get along.' They really are at very different places in their lives and it's very difficult for them to see each other. So it really helped define how the shows are different and it ends up with Angel laying into Buffy a little bit and saying, 'I've got my own show now, and it's different from your show, so get off my show!' That's basically what he's saying. And the moment I wrote that scene, I got very excited and I said, 'I get it now. I understand what Angel is and it's not Buffy,' and I felt like the training wheels came off."[1]

Pop Culture References

  • The X-Files: When Kate investigates the apartment where Angel and Faith fought, an officer accuses Kate of being "Scully" from X-Files. She corrects him: she is the "Mulder". Unlike the skeptical Scully, she believes.
  • The Lost Weekend: Appears on the TV in Angel's apartment.
  • Superman: Appears on the TV in Angel's apartment.

International Titles

  • German: Gehetzt (Haunted)
  • French: Sanctuaire (Sanctuary)

Music

Quotes

Faith: Are you saying I got to apologize?
Angel: Think you can?
Faith: I don't know. How do you say, "Gee, really sorry that I tortured you nearly to death"?
Angel: Well, first off I think I'd leave off the "Gee"...
Faith: God, it hurts. I hate that it hurts like this.
Angel: Oh well, it's supposed to hurt. All that pain, all that suffering you caused is coming back on you. Feel it! Deal with it! Then maybe you've got a shot at being free.
Faith: I've got to be the first Slayer in history sponsored by a vampire.
Angel: Is everything okay in there?
Faith: It was touch and go for the four minutes you left me alone, but somehow I got through it.
Faith: All my life there was only one person that tried to be my friend, went out of her way when I had no right or reason to expect her to - and I screwed her. Not to mention her boyfriend, only him literally.
Angel: Faith, you and I never actually...
Faith: No, not you. The new one. (Angel stares for a moment then looks down) Oh, my god. Angel, I'm so sorry I...
Angel: No, there. You can say it. That's good. (Turns away to leave) Good.
Lee: This is getting ridiculous. The first assassin kills the second assassin sent to kill the first assassin, who didn't assassinate anyone until we hired the second assassin to assassinate her.
Buffy: She tried to kill you.
Angel: That was just - That was just a cry for help.
Buffy: A cry for help is when you say "help" in a loud voice.
Faith: Angel said there was no way you were gonna give me a chance.
Buffy: I gave you every chance! I tried so hard to help you, and you spat on me! My life was just something for you to play with. Angel, Riley... anything that you could take from me, you took! I've lost battles before, but nobody else has ever made me a victim.
Buffy: Do you have any idea what it was like for me to see you with her? That you went behind my back...
Angel: Buffy, this wasn't about you! This was about saving somebody's soul. That's what I do here, and you're not a part of it. That was your idea, remember? We stay away from each other.
Buffy: I came here because you were in danger!
Angel: I'm in danger every day. You came here because of Faith. You were looking for vengeance.
Buffy: I have a right to it!
Angel: Not in my city.
Buffy: I have someone in my life now. That I love. It's not what you and I had. It's very new. You know what makes it new? I know him. I trust him.
Angel: That's great. It's nice, you moved on. I can't. You found someone new. I'm not allowed to, remember? I see you again, it cuts me up inside and the person I share that with is me! You don't know me anymore, so don't come down here with your great new life and expect me to do things your way! Go home.

Template:Clear

References

  1. Bassom, David, "Meet the Master", from Buffy the Vampire Slayer magazine #11 (UK, August 2000), page 7-8.
Advertisement