Line #62 Recap/AngelS01E20WarZone


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/angel_war_zone.png]]
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3	A girl named Alonna walks down the street, followed by a group of vampires, but when the vampires turn around, Alonna's brother Gunn and many others are there, armed and ready for a fight. Several are killed on both sides and in the end the vampires run off leaving the humans to deal with the wounded.
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5	Team Angel meet multi-billionaire and prospective client David Nabbit at a party, who explains he is being blackmailed by Lenny Edwards for going to a demonic brothel called Madam Dorion's. Angel tracks down Lenny Edwards, and makes him promise he will hand over the incriminating photos the following night. Gunn, after receiving news that a vampire is near by, witnesses Angel intimidating Edwards from afar, and plots to kill Angel. David pays Angel Investigations with a very large check, and promises more when the job is done.
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7	The next night, Angel meets with Lenny, who brought the photos and a demon security guard. Angel kills the demon and gets away with the photos. However, he gets staked in the chest by a couple of the human gang members. He is chased and forced to run through a gauntlet of vampire killing weapons. When confronted by Gunn and the others, Angel tries to explain that he is fighting for good.
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9	Cordelia dresses Angel's wounds while they look at the graphic pictures that were being held for blackmail. Angel is still in pain, but goes off to find the nest of vampires before the gang of kids find it. Gunn questions Angel and his motivations for supposedly helping them. The vampires throw smoke bombs into the humans' hideaway, forcing them to escape to the surface. Covered in heavy clothes and wearing gas masks, the vampires capture several of the teen gang members, including Alonna.
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11	Angel offers his assistance to Gunn and the others, but Gunn refuses and locks Angel in a meat locker. Angel tries to punch his way out of the locker, only to have Cordelia and Wesley open the door for him. Searching for the vampire's lair, Gunn finds a newly undead Alonna, but at first can't bring himself to kill what used to be his sister. When she offers to make her brother a vampire, he stakes her.
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13	Angel kills the vampire gang leader and arranges a truce with the rest of the group: he'll allow them to live if they leave town and never return. Cordelia considers getting involved with David for his money, but ends up talking herself out of it. Angel tells Gunn he may need his help in the future.
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15	----
16	!!Tropes in this episode:
17	* AfterActionPatchup: Cordy patches up Angel after his fight with the demon and Gunn's gang.
18	* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: The vampires throw smoke grenades into Gunn's hideout. He orders the others out into the daylight and prepares to fight, then realizes no one's attacking. As the others rush out into the open coughing and rubbing their eyes, vampires wearing [[GasMaskLongcoat gas masks and longcoats]] grab Alonna and haul her into a van.
19	* AmbiguouslyHuman: Madam Dorion seems entirely human but can tell that Angel is a vampire on sight.
20	* ArrowCatch: Alonna triggers one of the booby traps; Angel stops it from killing her by catching the arrow--[[ImpaledPalm through his palm]]. "[[MajorInjuryUnderreaction Ow!]]" as he puts it.
21	* BadBoss: The head vampire Knox claps his buddy Ty on the shoulder and [[FalseReassurance says its not his fault for getting ambushed by Gunn's crew]]. Right before he stakes him.
22	* BaitAndSwitch: When Alonna is attacked by vamps, a hero dressed in black and a longcoat shows up with Angel's theme playing. Turns out it's Gunn.
23	-->You expecting somebody else?
24	* TheBait: Alonna for Gunn's ambush, and later for the vampires' ambush.
25	* BarrierBustingBlow: Angel [[IndyHatRoll ducks under a roller door]] to get away from the Gunnmobile; he's stopped for a moment on the other side when the wooden spear mounted on the hood smashes through the door, barely missing him.
26	* {{BFG}}: The vehicle-mounted, compressed-air stake-gun.
27	* {{Blackmail}}: The client is a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' fanatic who went a little to deep into character--specifically, the 'demon seductresses' part--and ended up being photographed at a demon brothel.
28	* BloodKnight: Gunn, until he's forced to stake his own sister.
29	-->'''Gunn:''' You think I like this?\
30	'''Alonna:''' No, I think you love it. And you won't quit until you get [[{{foreshadowing}} as close to death as you possibly can]].
31	* BoobyTrap: Angel gets chased into an AbandonedWarehouse full of them.
32	* CallBack: One of the Oden-Tal demon girls from "[[Recap/AngelS01E13She She]]" works at Madam Dorion's.
33	* CeilingCling: Spoofed; a vampire is waiting above to ambush Angel, who [[NonchalantDodge calmly steps aside]], making the vampire crash to the ground in front of him.
34	%%* ChainLinkFence
35	* CloseupOnHead: Cordy and Wes in the convertible pretending they're at the beach, when they're [[RevealShot actually in a trashy back alley]].
36	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Remember, Angel was a filthy alley-rat scrounging mess in the 80s.
37	-->'''Nabbit:''' You know Dungeons & Dragons?\
38	'''Angel:''' I've seen a few.\
39	'''Wesley:''' You mean the role playing game!\
40	'''Angel:''' Oh, a game.
41	* DeathFromAbove: Not so much--Angel easily dodges the {{Ceiling Cling}}ing vampire.
42	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
43	** Knox's speech to his fellow vampires about how the neighborhood has gone downhill.
44	-->'''Knox:''' Used to be decent people lived here--working people. And now? [[ImAHumanitarian You can't even finish one]] without wanting to puke!
45	** Gunn's gang is made up mostly of African-Americans and Latinos while Knox looks like a skinhead and several of his gangs of vampires are also caucasians.
46	** Knox taunts Gunn over turning Alonna, in a manner reminiscent of a PostRapeTaunt.
47	* EvilFeelsGood: Vampire Alonna's recruitment spiel to her brother.
48	-->'''Alonna:''' We were on the right track--just on the wrong team. All that rage and hatred we got? We get to keep all that, only on this side there is no guilt, no grief--just the hunt and the kill--and the fun! And come on, how often did we go out in the daylight anyway?
49	* FantasticRacism: The demon brothel doesn't take vampire clients, though Lina says she's willing to make an exception in Angel's case.
50	* FeetFirstIntroduction: Used for a BaitAndSwitch. We're meant to think the sword-wielding BadassLongcoat is Angel, expecially when a vampire gives a YouExclamation, but it turns out to be Gunn.
51	-->'''Gunn:''' [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall You expecting somebody else?]]
52	* FireBreathingWeapon: Gunn's second-in-command Chain has a flamethrower for the attack on the vampire nest. Unfortunately we don't see it used until the Season 3 episode "[[Recap/AngelS03E10Dad Dad]]".
53	* GameFace:
54	** Used for intimidation.
55	--->'''Lenny:''' Look, pal, you obviously not from around here. But trust me; you do ''not'' want to see my bad side.\
56	'''Angel:''' You show me yours, ''[vamps out]'' I show you mine.
57	** The demon prostitute Lina is willing to have sex with handsome Angel despite [[FantasticRacism vampires not being welcome at the brothel]], as long as he doesn't do [[BuffySpeak that face thing]].
58	* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:For the Season 8 comics, where Gunn is turned into a vampire.]]
59	* GasMaskLongcoat: The vampires uses these to attack Gunn's gang in daylight.
60	* GoldDigger: Cordelia ponders whether she should 'prostitute' herself to incredibly rich geek David Nabbit, but realizes even she can't sink that far.
61	* HeadTiltinglyKinky: Wesley's reaction to some blackmail photos of his client's antics at a demon brothel. When Angel points out that he's looking at the picture upside-down, Wes almost faints.
62	* HotAsHell:
63	** Madame Dorion's, the demon brothel in Bel Air. According to Wesley, "The Watchers Council is ''ripe'' with stories about it." [[AllMenArePerverts No kidding.]]
64	** Lina appears to be an actual example; even willing to have sex with a vampire, though likely because Angel is hot.
65	* IHaveYourWife: A "I Have Your Sister" variant. The vampire gang grabs Alonna knowing that Gunn's gang will come after them.
66	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Gunn's introduction misleads the audience into thinking that Angel's showed up, right down to playing his theme.
67	-->You were expecting somebody else?
68	* MoneyFetish:
69	** The Fang Gang walk into Nabbit's expensive party.
70	--->'''Cordelia:''' Oh, I miss that smell!\
71	'''Wesley:''' Camembert, I believe.\
72	'''Cordelia:''' What? No--money--I like the smell of a little money once in a while.\
73	'''Angel:''' She's not just saying that. Hide some in the office sometime to watch her. It's uncanny.
74	** Also her reaction to the size of the check.
75	* MustBeInvited: Angel grabs the sentry at Gunn's hideout and forces him to tender an invitation.
76	* NotBigEnoughForTheTwoOfUs: Angel gives his "L.A. is my turf" speech to the vampire gang. "You might want to stay out of it for the rest of your eternal lives."
77	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Pretty much every bad thing that happens to Gunn is due to his recklessness.
78	* PreMortemOneLiner
79	-->'''Alonna:''' ''[vamps out]'' Say goodbye to everything you ever knew.
80	-->'''Gunn:''' [[IronicEcho Goodbye]]. ''[[[StakingTheLovedOne stakes her]]]''
81	* {{Pun}}: "The guys were joking about getting some tail." Later when Angel visits we get a hint at the [[PowerPerversionPotential creative uses to which demon prostitute Lina puts her tail]].
82	-->'''Linda:''' Look ma, no hands!
83	* RoofHopping: Happens off-screen; a gang member rushes in to tell Gunn that a vampire (revealed to be Angel) is jumping from roof to roof.
84	* SchmuckBait: The kidnapping of Alonna. Angel warns her brother that if he tries to invade the vampires' nest, it will turn into a bloodbath. Predictably, Gunn doesn't hear him--or care.
85	* SelfMadeMan: David Nabbit made his millions by inventing software which allows blind people to surf the internet.
86	* SpikesOfDoom: Angel gets to experience the full extent of Gunn's vampire-proofing. Upon chasing Angel into Gunn's own building, Gunn rams the wall with his spiked truck, narrowly missing Angel's head. Disoriented, Angel stumbles over a tripwire, triggering a hurricane of arrows as well as a falling spike trap.
87	* StakingTheLovedOne: Gunn, to Alonna, after allowing her to believe she convinced him with her EvilFeelsGood speech.
88	* StatingTheSimpleSolution: Angel is trying to break out of the meat locker Gunn locked him in when Wes and Cordy open the door from the outside and ask why he didn't just call for help on his cellphone.
89	* StormingTheCastle: Gunn ignores Angel's warning that the vampires are expecting him and goes to assault their nest. It turns out the vampires have recruitment rather than ambush in mind.
90	* SwordOverHead: Pressed by Gunn's oncoming gang, Angel ends up violently disarming one of his attackers and almost stabs him with his own stake. He stops when he realizes that his prey is a mere kid.
91	* ThatCameOutWrong
92	-->'''Cordy:''' I like David. It's such a... strong, masculine name. It just feels... good in your mouth.\
93	'''Wesley:''' ''[as he leads Cordy out]'' "Feels good in your mouth"?\
94	'''Cordy:''' I was flustered!
95	* TranshumanTreachery: Alonna, predictably, after the vampire kidnap and quickly feed on her in their escape van.
96	* VampireHunter: Charles Gunn and his gang, fighting back against the vamps that prey on L.A.'s poor and destitute.
97	* VampiresAreSexGods: Lina is willing to sleep with Angel as long as he doesn't do "the [[GameFace face thing]]".
98	* WeaponizedCar: The pickup truck with massive wooden stakes on the hood and a [[{{BFG}} mounted stake-gun]] in the back.
99	* WhatTheHellHero: Alonna mentions that the vampires have been leaving them alone recently, until Gunn's ambush stirred them up.
100	* YouHaveNoIdeaWhoYoureDealingWith: Of course, that can apply both ways.
101	-->'''Knox:''' Who the hell are you? You know who you're talking to, you fool?\
102	'''Angel:''' The name's [[TheDreaded Angelus]]. ''[stakes Knox]'' And I wasn't actually talking to you.

Context Recap / AngelS01E20WarZone