I've Got You Under My Skin (Angel episode)
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| Angel episode | |
| "I've Got You Under My Skin" | |
 The possessed boy tries to strangle his mother |
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| Episode № | Season 1 Episode 14 |
|---|---|
| Guest star(s) | Anthony Cistaro Jesse James |
| Writer(s) | Jeannine Renshaw |
| Director | R D Price |
| Production № | 1ADH14 |
| Airdate | February 15, 2000 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous episode | She |
| Next episode | The Prodigal |
"I've Got You Under My Skin" is episode 14 of season 1 in the television show Angel. See List of Angel (series) episodes for a complete list.
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
[edit] Summary
Angel deals with a child who seems to have been possessed by a demon.
[edit] Expanded overview
Cordelia's vision directs Angel and Wesley to a house in the suburbs, where Angel saves a boy from being hit a car in front of the boy's home. The parents invite him inside and the mother bandages a scratch in his arm (which is strangely healing quite fast all by itself). Upon hearing his name, the mother is instantly convinced that Angel has been sent to save his boy. The father, though, is not amused and tries to politely make him go away, but not before the mother has invited him over again for supper next day.
While Angel is in the house, Wesley finds glowing goo called "plakticine" (perhaps something like ectoplasm) around the house, which means that someone in there might be possessed. Everyone thinks it's the father and the way to make sure is by making him eat some eucalyptus powder, which will supposedly make him show its true form. They mix the powder with some brownies which Angel takes it as dessert when he goes over. The family eats the brownies for dessert; the father chokes briefly because the brownies are very dry, but the boy spasms and partially transforms into a demon for just a moment, revealing the possession. His mother blames Angel for poisoning her son, but his father convinces her that something is truly wrong with the boy, and has been for awhile. The family agrees to try an exorcism.
Angel takes the family to his place and the boy is put to sleep in Angel's bed, controlled by a magic circle. Angel also tells the mother not to go anywhere near the boy or she will risk being murdered, as the boy is not himself anymore. In the meantime, he and Wesley try to find a priest properly prepared to do the exorcism, but upon arriving to his parish they find he has died in a previous exorcism. Wesley decides to do it himself to Angel's dismay, who thinks he's unprepared. They arrive home right on time to help the mother, who is now being strangled by the boy; she didn't pay heed to Angel's advice and foolishly broke the magic circle.
Wesley finds that the spirit, an Ethros demon, goes to the next living thing when it's expelled from a body, so they need a place to contain him: an Ethros box. Cordelia goes to try to find one while the exorcism is prepared. However, there's no Ethros box, which can only be carved by "blind Tibetan monks", so Cordy instead buys a box made by mute Chinese nuns - which the shopowner warned might be too small. Wesley in the meantime is trying to make the demon go away but he proves too weak. In the kitchen, while taking some rest, the power of the demon shows by moving objects around, including toys such as a bag of marbles. The marbles form the words "Save me" on the table...
When the exorcism finally takes place, it's Angel who's holding the cross with a bandaged, smoking hand. The demon is expelled but the box can't contain him and breaks into shards. The demon flees in the form of energy. Now, because they know the demon must be weak, and in corporeal form, Angel and Wesley decide to hunt it while the family goes home thinking they are safe. Angel and Wesley finally find the Ethros' hideout, but the demon they face is all but grateful for his imminent death and tells them that he tried to possess the boy only to find himself trapped in him. He reveals that the boy was not pure or innocent, but totally chaotic, amoral and soulless inside. The boy was holding him hostage and the words "Save me" were, in fact, the demon's.
Angel and Wesley finally arrive at the family home right in time to save them from the kid, who was trying to burn down the house in order to kill his sister, with whom he had previously argued over a cup of cocoa. In the end, the police take him to the Social Services while Angel comforts the father telling him that he has been successful in trying to protect his family. The boy, though human, was much more dangerous than the Ethros demon.
[edit] Writing and acting
[edit] Production details
[edit] Quotes and trivia
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce mentions that famous killer Lizzie Borden was possessed by an Ethros demon.
[edit] Continuity
[edit] Arc significance
Wesley's character is established as being much deeper than the comedic goof he was on Buffy.
[edit] Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) |
Buffyverse chronology: January 2000 - Spring 2000 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.12 A New Man |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.12 Expecting |
| L.A., 2000 | Angel graphic novel: Hunting Ground |
| L.A., 2000 | Angel comic: Strange Bedfellows/Love for sale |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.13 The I in Team |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.13 She |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.14 Goodbye Iowa |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | Buffy video game: Wrath of the Darkhul King |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.14 I've Got You Under My Skin |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.15 This Year's Girl |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.15 The Prodigal |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.16 Who Are You |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.16 The Ring |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | Buffy comic: Giles |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | Buffy comic: Jonathan (by Jane Espenson) |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.17 Superstar |
| Sunnydale, L.A., 2000 | Buffy/Angel graphic novel: Past Lives |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | Buffy graphic novel: Out of the Woodwork |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | Buffy book: These Our Actors |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.17 Eternity |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.18 Where the Wild Things Are |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.18 Five By Five |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.19 New Moon Rising |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.19 Sanctuary |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.20 The Yoko Factor |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.20 War Zone |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.21 Primeval |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.21 Blind Date |
| Sunnydale, L.A., 2000 | B4.22 Restless |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.22 To Shanshu in L.A. |
| L.A., 2000 | Angel comic: Cordelia special |
| Sunnydale, L.A., 2000 | Buffy/Angel books: Unseen [Trilogy] |
