Template:Angelepisode
The Girl in Question is episode 20 of season 5 of the television show Angel, and is the 108th episode overall. Written by Steven S. DeKnight and Drew Goddard and directed by David Greenwalt, it was originally broadcast on May 5, 2004 on the WB network.
When Angel and Spike go to Italy after hearing that Buffy is in trouble, they discover she is dating their long-time nemesis The Immortal. While searching for Buffy - and the head of a demon which must be brought back to L.A. to prevent a demon war - they reminisce about their history with The Immortal and finally accept that they can't control who Buffy dates.
Synopsis
Gunn discovers a demon gang war is imminent, unless the head of the deceased leader is retrieved from Rome so that he may be resurrected. Angel initially tries to send a
Angel doesn't want to ride on the back. (click for animation)
reluctant Spike there, but Spike refuses. But when Angel learns that Buffy is in Rome and in trouble, he and Spike team up to help her and to retrieve the head. But they find out that Buffy is dating their arch-nemesis, The Immortal. Flashbacks are shown that explain why Angel and Spike hate The Immortal: he slept with Darla and Drusilla simultaneously (something the ladies had never allowed Spike or Angel to do) while his minions kept Angel and Spike away by holding them in chains. To make matters worse, the ladies both enjoyed the experience immensely. They discuss the matter and conclude that Buffy must be under some sort of love spell - why else would she be
Angel and Spike punching each other. (click for animation)
dating a dark, centuries-old supernatural creature who may or may not be evil? Spike declares that it must be a spell, and Angel agrees. They fight over who Buffy loved more. Angel insists they had a "forever" love and that Spike and she just had a lot of sex but it wasn't a real relationship, which Spike denies.
They locate and retrieve the head. They visit Buffy's apartment and find Andrew Wells there. He explains that he lives with Buffy and Dawn, and Buffy went to a club with The Immortal. They go to the club and see Buffy from a distance. They get distracted and leave the demon head in a bag on a table, and it is filched by The Immortal's demon butler. Angel and Spike fight the minions and "accidentally" hit each other a few times, too. The demon butler gets away with the head and mocks the heroes as he leaves. Angel and Spike argue over how "if they had all their resources", they would be able to find the head. Spike points out that there is a Wolfram & Hart office in Rome.
Meanwhile, at Wolfram & Hart in L.A., Fred's parents show up and Wesley ushers them into his office to tell them she is gone. But as he is about to tell them, Illyria walks in the door looking and acting exactly like Fred. Later, while her parents are being shown Fred's office, Wesley confronts Illyria. She explains that Wesley's grief is unbearable so she could not bear to witness Fred's parents' grief as well. She explains that she can appear in the form that she wishes. After Fred's parents leave, Wesley asks her if she got what she wanted from that experience. Illyria answers "Yes", and Wesley orders her never to do it again.
Angel and Spike go to Rome's Wolfram & Hart offices, which are identical to the LA offices. They are greeted by a caricature of an Italian party girl--very ebullient, wearing a low-cut dress--who turns out to be the CEO. She says the head is being held in a standard ransom situation. Angel and Spike want to fight, but she expains that they have a civilized way to do this, and they are given money for the drop, which they exchange with the butler for the bag. They open it and in it there is a bomb that explodes. Spike complains about his ruined jacket--the one that had belonged to a Slayer, Robin Wood's mother. They go back to the Rome Wolfram & Hart - the CEO laughs, saying criminals always do that to first-timers. She replaces their damaged clothing. Spike and Angel declare their intention to go home, but return to Buffy's apartment and Andrew tells them to let Buffy move on, while he, clad in a tuxedo, leaves the apartment with two sexy Italian women. Frustrated by their inability to contact Buffy and by the demon butler's chicanery on The Immortal's behalf, they decide to go home.
Angel and Spike look into the bag and discover that it contains a bomb
Illyria follows Wesley into his office, still appearing and speaking as Fred. She states that she wishes to explore the relationship further and does not understand why Wesley is angry about it since he obviously loved Fred. He replies that she is not Fred and that he is sickened by the sight of her. He tells her to be anything as long as it's not Fred. She appears somewhat confused and when he leaves the room changes back into her usual form. "As you wish" she says.
When Angel and Spike return home, they find the head on Angel's desk with a note signed by The Immortal. They are outraged; this is the second time he "distracted" them while he put the moves on "their" girl. They declare their intention to get over Buffy and move on with their lives.
Acting
Main cast
- David Boreanaz as Angel/Angelus
- James Marsters as Spike
- J. August Richards as Charles Gunn
- Amy Acker as Illyria/Winifred Burkle
- Andy Hallett as Lorne
- Mercedes McNab as Harmony Kendall
- Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
Special guest stars
- Julie Benz as Darla
- Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
Guest stars
- David Lee as Alfonso
- Gary Grubbs as Roger Burkle
- Jennifer Griffin as Trish Burkle
- Carole Raphaelle Davis as Ilona Costa Bianchi
- Juliet Landau as Drusilla
Co-stars
- Vikki Gurdas as Bartender
- Rob Steiner as Pietro
- Andrew Ableson as Italian Man
- Dominic Pace as Bouncer
- Irina Maleeva as Old Demon Lady
Behind the scenes
- In the original script Dawn was supposed to open the door of Buffy's look-a-like Roman apartment and welcome Angel and Spike. (This would have marked the first appearance of Dawn on Angel.) But due to other projects, Michelle Trachtenberg wasn't available to appear. It was then decided to give Andrew the scenes which were originally planned for Dawn.
Continuity
- In the first issue of the canonical comic The Long Way Home it is revealed that the woman who Spike and Angel saw in Italy with The Immortal was actually a look-alike decoy Buffy projecting a very public "party girl" image in order to draw attention away from the real Buffy Summers.
- In this episode, Illyria reveals her ability to impersonate Fred. She will later use this ability in Not Fade Away and in Angel: After the Fall.
Factual Errors
- When Angel asks the lady at the bar if she has seen Buffy, he describes her as having blue eyes, but she actually has green eyes