Five by Five (Angel episode)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Five by Five” | |
|---|---|
| Angel episode | |
 Faith tortures Wesley |
|
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 18 |
| Guest stars | Julie Benz (Darla) Eliza Dushku (Faith) Christian Kane (Lindsey) |
| Written by | Jim Kouf |
| Directed by | James A. Contner |
| Production no. | 1ADH18 |
| Original airdate | April 25, 2000 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Eternity" | "Sanctuary" |
| List of Angel episodes | |
"Five by Five" is episode 18 of season 1 in the television show Angel. See List of Angel episodes for a complete list.
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
[edit] Summary
Angel convinces a witness for the prosecution to testify against a client of Wolfram and Hart. The defense attorneys don't appreciate this inconvenience so, when Faith Lehane arrives in Los Angeles, they offer her the job of asassinating Angel. Faith makes a game of winding Angel up with ineffectual attacks, then raises the stakes by abducting Wesley, torturing him mercilessly and brutally. Coming to Wesley's rescue, Angel engages Faith in an epic battle, which lasts until Faith loses her will to fight and breaks down, revealing her deep-seated death wish. Escaped from his bonds, Wesley looks on in shock as Faith weeps in Angel's arms.
[edit] Expanded overview
A banger, returning to headquarters, encounters three very ugly demons just finishing off the other members of his gang. He runs for his life and is rescued by Angel playing mailbox baseball with the demons' heads (and a sword) as Wesley drives the Plymouth. The gangbanger turns out to be a key witness who refuses to testify in court against a Wolfram & Hart client. Faith, the second Slayer, gets off a bus in L.A. then mugs a lowlife predator for his coat, wallet and keys. In Borsa, Romania, 1898, Darla leads a blindfolded Angelus to a young Gypsy woman bound on the floor. With Darla watching, Angelus vamps and bites the terrified girl's inner thigh. In his office, Angel attempts to persuade the gangbanger to do his civic duty.
At a club, Faith dances the night away with every guy within reach. A fight breaks out when Faith attaches herself to another girl's boyfriend. She continues her dancing, knocking down anyone who tries to stop her or get in her way. In court, Wolfram & Hart moves for dismissal, but Angel shows up in the nick of time with a now-docile gangbanger, the prosecution's key witness. Lindsey, Lilah and Lee, young lawyers from Wolfram & Hart, plot to hire Faith to kill Angel.
Back in 1898, Darla returns to the house to find her darling boy, Angelus, is no longer the demon she created. He's been cursed with a soul by the Gypsy girl's people and Darla, disgusted and furious, drives Angel into the night. Faith works out a deal with Lindsey and Lilah, beating their colleague, Lee, to a pulp during negotiations. When Cordelia, Wesley and Angel are on their way to lunch with a prospective client, a stealthy Faith attempts to shoot Angel in the back with a crossbow. Angel catches the bolt and Faith, having issued her challenge, disappears back onto the streets.
After phoning Giles in Sunnydale to learn that Faith has been out of her coma for about a week, Angel plans to track the rogue Slayer himself, instructing Wesley and Cordelia to lay low. Angel opens the weapons cabinet but decides not to arm himself for the coming confrontation. Sensing Faith's presence, Angel finds her up in the outer office, where she stands protected from immediate attack by sunlight streaming through the raised blinds. Faith proceeds to toss Angel a gun, should he choose to shoot her, and he hesitates not a microsecond, aiming for her leg. The bullet is a blank, however, and he tosses the gun back. After she explains her plan to destroy him, she shoots him with a real bullet and departs by crashing out the window. Angel, wearing a suit and spouting convincing corporate-speak, poses as a lawyer to sneak into Lindsey McDonald's Wolfram & Hart office. Lindsey interrupts Angel in mid-snoop and informs him that their high-tech security system has documented Angel's every move in digital hi-def. Angel chooses discretion and departs.
Cordelia tries to get into her apartment, but Phantom Dennis makes it difficult. Cordy thinks Dennis is jealous of Wesley until they discover that Faith has broken in. Faith knocks Cordelia out and, after he punches her in retaliation, kicks Wesley across the room. In flashback, Angel, newly ensouled, begs for help on the streets of Borsa. He encounters a group of people, knocks out the men and drinks from the woman, but his remorseful soul prevents him from draining her.
Angel finds Cordelia, but Faith has taken Wesley back to "her" apartment, where she ties him to a chair and tortures him, correctly calculating that Angel, indifferent to being targeted himself, will be unable to ignore threats to his friends. Angel and Cordelia work to locate Faith before she kills her bait. Angel charges into the apartment and, after parrying a few verbal thrusts, commences a spectacular fight with Faith, a mortal contest that's been a long time coming. Faith seems to have the upper hand as they batter the furnishings and each other, then crash out an upper-story window, only to resume combat in the alley below. Rain begins to pour down and it becomes increasingly clear that Angel's strategy has been to engage and distract the Slayer, not best her. As Faith wearies, her fury fading, Angel's own moves slow and are revealed to be purely defensive. Meanwhile, Wesley cuts himself loose and staggers downstairs, armed with a kitchen carving knife. Faith, more and more distraught, tries wildly to force Angel to continue the offensive, to finish this fight to the finish.
As a wrathful Wesley watches, Faith breaks down completely, confessing her self-loathing and begging Angel to punish her, to kill her. An anguished Angel, filled with unbearable compassion, holds Faith and goes to his knees with her, as she collapses in the dark downpour. Unheeded, Wesley's knife falls from nerveless fingers.
[edit] Production details
[edit] Music
- APM - "Pressure Cooker"
- Rob Zombie - "Living Dead Girl"
[edit] Quotes and trivia
Is the only episode of Angel rated an 18 certificate (for frequent, strong violence) in the UK.
The episode is named for the related slang phrase frequently used by Faith.
[edit] Translations
- German title: "Alte Feinde" ("Old Enemies")
- Italian title: "La forza dell'odio" ("The strength of hatred")
[edit] Continuity
[edit] Arc significance
Crossover with Buffy: Faith was last seen fleeing Sunnydale in "Who Are You". This episode will begin her rehabilitation in preparation of her return to Buffy in its final season.
[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] |
