The Thin Dead Line (Angel episode)
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| Angel episode | |
| "The Thin Dead Line" | |
 |
|
| Episode № | Season 2 Episode 14 |
|---|---|
| Guest star(s) | Elisabeth Rohm (Kate) Darin Cooper Julia Lee (Anne) |
| Writer(s) | Jim Kouf, Shawn Ryan |
| Director | Scott McGinnis |
| Production № | 2ADH14 |
| Airdate | February 13, 2001 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous episode | Happy Anniversary |
| Next episode | Reprise |
"The Thin Dead Line" is episode 14 of season 2 in the television show Angel. See List of Angel (series) episodes for a complete list.
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
[edit] Summary
Unbeknownst to Gunn, Cordelia and Wesley, Angel investigates a squad of zombie policemen who assault homeless street kids and anyone in their path, a case also brought to the Gunn-Cordy-Wes trio by Anne. While Angel teams up with Kate to investigate the source of the undead cops, Wesley ends up getting shot by one of the policemen and Gunn, Cordelia, Anne and some street kids are forced to hold up in the homeless shelter while the zombie policemen try to claw their way in and kill them all.
[edit] Expanded overview
A friend of Virginia brings her daughter who has an eye in the back of her head to the soon-to-be-renamed Angel Investigations. An unseen attack on the girl led to the abnormality and Wesley assures the mother that they will find a way to get rid of the eye. At the teen shelter, two teens show up after curfew in search of safety and their fear convinces Anne makes an exception to the rules.
Merl packs his stuff to leave his place and finds Angel looking for information. Merl brings up the subject of Angel's former employees and Angel is disturbed. Anne talks to Kenny and Les about their reasons for showing up late to the shelter they haven't been at in a while. Kenny explains that a cop attacked them for no good reason. Anne takes the problem to Gunn and his co-workers.
Anne reveals that she knows Angel and tells the others the story about him. Gunn accompanies her back to the shelter and questions the kids about the incidents with the police. Angel follows Gunn and Anne, but as he's standing outside the shelter, a cop attacks him. The officer rises every time Angel knocks him down until the vampire kicks the cop's head completely off and even then, the head keeps talking for a moment.
A couple of guys from Gunn's crew, Rondell and George, arrive at the shelter to help the kids deal with the police problems. Gunn is hassled about spending all his time killing demons and ignoring the people of his past. Angel asks Kate to looks up the dead cop's badge and she finds that he's been dead for six months. Angel and Kate visit a graveyard and Angel reveals that someone is taking the dead bodies of cops and putting them back on the streets as zombies.
Cordelia rants about Gunn's stubborn plan to deal with the cops, then she and Wesley resolve to go back him up. A man by the name of Jackson shows up uninvited at the shelter, but Anne and Cordelia are unable to prevent him from staying. Gunn and his friends encounter a cop and Gunn questions their crime while George records the events on a hidden camera. Wesley tries to save Gunn, but the cop turns and shoots him.
A struggle takes place and George shoots the cop then the three men help move Wesley to safety as the cop sits up, seemingly unaffected by the bullets. Kate and Angel investigate the precinct where the zombie cops are from. Gunn and friends get Wesley into an ambulance, but as they're driving away, several police cars get in the way. When the driver is shot, Gunn is forced to drive the ambulance to the shelter and then carries Wesley inside with the EMT.
Gunn confronts Jackson about his violent actions, but Anne puts a stop to a fight between the two. The EMT warns that Wesley needs to get to a hospital fast. The teens barricade the shelter with everything the can find as an army of dead cops gather outside. Angel visits the police captain at the precinct, and gets shot when he asks questions. He then forcefully demands information about how to stop the zombies.
The cops force their way inside the shelter while Cordelia tries to get through to the operators at 911. The zombie cops attack through the windows and doors hurting several teens in the process. Angel follows the captain into a hidden room filled with occult materials. The captain has been using supernatural means to return good cops to the streets and protect the neighborhood previously filled with violence. Angel finds a zombie statue and smashes it, returning all the zombie cops to their former dead, decaying states.
While Angel is with her, Kate gets a report about Wesley being shot. The gunshot wound proved not to be fatal as Wesley wakes up at the hospital, praising morphine. While standing outside Wesley's hospital room, Angel encounters Cordelia who tells him off and informs him that he needs to stay away from them all.
[edit] Writing and acting
[edit] Production details
[edit] Music
- Outkast - "Ms. Jackson"
- Seldom Seen - "Who's Got My Back"
- Suckerpump - "On a Mission" (Morphic Field)
[edit] Quotes and trivia
[edit] Continuity
[edit] Arc significance
[edit] Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) |
Buffyverse chronology: January 2001 - Spring 2001 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.12 Checkpoint |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.12 Blood Money |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.13 Happy Anniversary |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.13 Blood Ties |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.14 The Thin Dead Line |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.15 Reprise |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.14 Crush |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.16 Epiphany |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy book: Wisdom of War |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.15 I Was Made to Love You |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.17 Disharmony |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel book: Vengeance |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.16 The Body |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.18 Dead End |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel book: Haunted |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.17 Forever |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.19 Belonging |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel: Ugly Little Monsters |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy comic: 'Chaos Bleeds' prequel |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy video game: Chaos Bleeds |
| L.A., 2001 | Tales of the Slayer: Again, Sunnydale |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.18 Intervention |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy book: Tempted Champions |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy book: Little Things |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy book: Crossings |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy book: Sweet Sixteen |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.19 Tough Love |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.20 Over the Rainbow |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.20 Spiral |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.21 Through the Looking Glass |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.21 The Weight of the World |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.22 The Gift |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.22 There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel: Death of Buffy: Lost & Found’ |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel: Death of Buffy |
