"Untouched" is the fourth episode of the second season of Angel and the twenty-sixth episode in the series. Written by Mere Smith and directed by Joss Whedon, it was originally broadcast on October 17, 2000, on The WB network.
Synopsis[]
SLEEP TIGHT — Angel unknowingly crosses paths with Wolfram & Hart when he comes to the aid of a young woman, Bethany, who possesses telekinetic powers far beyond her control, a situation Angel has had to contend with in his own life. Meanwhile, Angel is somewhat off his game due to the fact that he has been sleeping weird, but has no idea his fitful nights are the result of nocturnal visits by Darla.[1]
Summary[]
Lilah sneaks into Lindsey's office to rifle though his papers. Darla makes her presence known and reveals she has been using a drug called Calynthia powder to keep Angel asleep while she manipulates his dreams.
Angel wakes to find Cordelia and Wesley bickering about whether they should offer to pay Gunn for helping them fight demons. As Wesley and Angel discuss the vampire's sleeping habits, Cordelia suddenly gets visions that send Angel out after a young woman from two men trying to attack her. As the men are about to make their move, she telekinetically slides a dumpster across the alleyway and uses it to crush them against the wall.
At the crime scene, Angel pretends to be a detective to get information about the crime from an officer. He wanders inside an old building and finds the woman from the alley. Panicked, she sends a rebar through Angel's chest. Realizing she did not kill him, she relaxes enough to let him talk to her. She is unwilling to give much information and warns him to stay away. Before the woman leaves, Angel gives her his card. The woman returns to the apartment where she is staying: Lilah's.
Gunn stops by Angel Investigations to offer his help, and Angel sends him out to find information on the men Bethany killed.
As Bethany drifts off to sleep, she dreams of her abusive childhood and sends a bedside lamp flying. It hits Lilah, who had been watching her fitful sleep. Lilah pleads with her to stay, but Bethany flees the apartment realizing she hurt another person with her powers. Bethany seeks Angel's help at the Hyperion Hotel, and they discuss how she cannot control her telekinesis.
At Wolfram & Hart, Holland and Lilah discuss Bethany - she is Lilah's discovery and they have been grooming her to become an assassin for Wolfram & Hart. It is revealed the firm is responsible for the alley attack as a way of testing her telekinetic abilities. Holland tells Lilah that her failure in grooming Bethany could damage their other projects.
After Cordelia warns Wesley about Bethany's strange behavior, Wesley realizes her powers have arisen from having been sexually abused by her father. He then approaches Bethany and offhandedly mentions her father, thus causing her to lose control and hurl he and Angel through the air.
That night, Bethany finds Angel in his bed and offers to have sex with him; the abuse she has suffered has led her to believe that she is just an object for men's amusement. Angel declines and assures Bethany all men aren't like that. He then sends her back to her own bed. This conversation is shown to have interrupted Darla's attempts to manipulate Angel's dream as she hides in the dark corner and watches Angel send Bethany away. When Holland hears of this, he orders Lilah to get Bethany away from Angel.
After Angel helps Bethany attempt to control her powers, he meets Gunn at one of the attacker's apartment. Angel brings up the idea of paying Gunn for his services and he readily agrees. Gunn is now officially part of Angel Investigations. They eventually find evidence that the attempted rapist works for Wolfram & Hart.
Cordelia talks to Bethany over coffee, trying to convince her that she is no longer just a victim. She has great power and can choose how to use it - although her choices so far have not been wise. Cordelia warns her that sex with Angel is off limits and that he is old fashioned with a different mindset than most men. Suddenly Wolfram & Hart's men arrive and kidnap Bethany. Angel and Gunn go after them, eventually saving her.
Wolfram & Hart decide to increase the pressure and they send Bethany's father to intercept her. This causes her to panic, and she lets out a blast of telekinetic power. All of the windows on the hotel's top floor explode and both Angel and Cordelia are thrown backwards. Bethany hurls her father out a window, stopping him from impending death just before he hits the ground. Bethany chooses not to kill her father, as she has remembered Angel and Cordelia's teachings.
Later, Bethany packs up her things in the apartment while Lilah and Angel have a chat at the door. Bethany accuses Lilah of trying to kill her and tells her she no longer trusts her. Angel comments that Lilah needs to find someone else's mind to play with. As he leaves with Bethany, Lilah mutters that they already have.
Continuity[]
- Cordelia argues she was top 10% of her class; while in high school, she was accepted in prestigious colleges ("Choices") and had an impressive SAT score ("Lovers Walk").
- Cordelia refers to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Lovers Walk" when she mentions being impaled by a rebar.
- Cordelia claims: "You can't fire me." Angel will fire all of his employees, including her, in the episode "Reunion."
- Gunn has a new axe, which he will use often in battles until its destruction in "Apocalypse, Nowish."
- Gunn asks if Cordelia is still saving his life, a mission she first declared in "First Impressions."
- Angel says Bethany wouldn't like him when he's happy, referring to his curse that makes him soulless and evil if he experience happiness ("Innocence").
Appearances[]
Individuals[]
- Angel
- Cordelia Chase
- Mr. Chaulk
- Bethany Chaulk
- Darla
- Charles Gunn
- Landers
- Lindsey McDonald (Only mentioned)
- Holland Manners
- Lilah Morgan
- Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
- Unidentified aggressor
- Unidentified detective
Organizations and titles[]
Species[]
Locations[]
- Romania (Only in visions)
- United States
- Los Angeles
- Hyperion Hotel
- Lilah Morgan's apartment
- Pearson Arms Apartments (Only mentioned)
- Pearson Arms apartment 212 (Only mentioned)
- Wesley Wyndam-Pryce's apartment (Only mentioned)
- Wolfram & Hart Los Angeles branch
- Ohio (Only mentioned)
- Sunnydale (Only mentioned)
- Los Angeles
Objects[]
Death count[]
- Two attackers, crushed by Bethany with a dumpster.
Behind the scenes[]
Production[]
- This is the first episode to be written by Mere Smith, who would remain as one of the show's main writers until the end of the fourth season.
- This is the only episode in the Buffyverse in which Joss Whedon directed but didn't also write.
Broadcast[]
- "Untouched" had an audience of 3.4 million households upon its original airing.[2]
Pop culture references[]
- Cordelia complains about Wesley's avarice by calling him Ebenezer, referring to the protagonist of the novella A Christmas Carol.
- Angel says: "You wouldn't like me when I'm happy." This is a spoof of the popular phrase "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry" by David Banner from The Incredible Hulk 1978 television series.
- Angel compares the officer's uniform to of Cub Scout, a program associated with Scouting for young children.
- The officer quotes: "Oh, no, Mr. Bill!" Mr. Bill is a clay figurine from Saturday Night Live sketches from the late 70s that generally ended with the character being crushed or dismembered while squealing: "Oh no!"
Goofs[]
- When Bethany is confronting her father, we initially see Angel lying on the ground behind her father, as seen over Bethany's shoulder. In the next two shots from this angle, Angel is standing up, clearly pinned against the wall. Moments later, however, Angel is lying on the ground again, then stands up and is pinned against the wall by Bethany's power.
Music[]
- Opus Music Library — "At the Fairground"
- Robert J. Kral — "Untouched/Darla's Fire"
- Robert J. Kral — original score
International titles[]
- Czech: "Nedotčená" (Untouched)
- Finnish: "Viaton tyttörukka" (Innocent Girl)
- French: "Intouchable" (Untouchable)
- German: "Außer Kontrolle" (Out of Control)
- Hungarian: "Az érinthetetlen" (The Untouchable)
- Italy: "Non toccarmi!" (Don't Touch Me!)
- Portuguese (Brazil): "Intacto" (Intact)
- Russian: "Неприкасаемая" (Untouchable)
- Spanish (Latin America): "Intacto" (Intact)
- Spanish (Spain): "Intacto" (Intact)
- Turkish: "Dokunulmamış" (Untouched)
Quotes[]
| Wesley: "That's so typical of your kind." |
| Cordelia: "Well, at least I'm not a sheep like you." |
| Wesley: "I am not a sheep!" |
| Cordelia: "You are such a sheep! You've never had a single opinion you didn't read in a book." |
| Wesley: "At least I've opened a book." |
| Cordelia: "Oh, don't even try with the snooty, woolly boy. I was top 10% of my class." |
| Wesley: "What class? Advanced Bosoms?" |
| Cordelia: "Oh!" |
| Cordelia: "[Gunn's] been doing for us. He should pull in a check." |
| Angel: "I'll think about asking him, all right?" |
| Cordelia: "No think. Pay. That's an order." |
| Angel: "Hey! How about we pretend that you work for me." |
| Cordelia: "You are unpleasant when you—" |
| Angel: "Then why don't you pretend that you don't." |
| Cordelia: "You can't fire me. I'm vision-girl." |
| Cordelia: "I can't get this bandage to— Stop moving." |
| Angel: "I'm not." |
| Cordelia: "Well, then stop breathing." |
| Angel: "I don't breathe." |
| Cordelia: "Then stop flexing your manly boob muscles or whatever." |
| Angel: "What do we know about telekinesis?" |
| Wesley: "Ah, yes. The power of moving things with one's mind... That's pretty much it." |
| Bethany: "You can do stuff to me, and... you know... we'll have some fun." |
| Angel: "That's not gonna happen, Bethany." |
| Bethany: "What, like I'm some frightened little mouse? I've done stuff. I can make you happy." |
| Angel: "You wouldn't like me when I'm happy." |
References[]
- ↑ "Season Two." City of Angel. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011.
- ↑ "Nielsen Ratings for Angel's Second Season." Nielsen Ratings for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, & Firefly. Archived from the original on July 19, 2008.