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Blood Money

"Blood Money" is the twelfth episode of the second season of Angel and the thirty-fourth episode in the series. Written by Shawn Ryan with Mere Smith and directed by R.D. Price, it was originally broadcast on January 23, 2001, on The WB network.

Synopsis

CALLING YOUR BLUFF — Angel threatens to expose Wolfram & Hart's criminal activities when he discovers that they are stealing large contributions that were made to a teen shelter but an old adversary has other plans for Angel.[1]

Summaries

At Cordelia's apartment, Wesley and Gunn play a board game until Cordelia tries to kick them out so she can sleep. They discuss plans to start their own company without Angel until Cordelia gets visions about a large, two-headed, fire-flatulating demon.

Angel bumps into a woman who runs the East Hills Teen Center. Alone at the Hyperion Hotel, Angel looks at her wallet with her name: Anne Steele. He has a wall with dozens of pictures of the woman, including shots of her with Lindsey.

Wesley and Gunn slowly approach the demon in the sewers and find themselves in over their heads with the 20-foot creature.

Angel confronts Merl in his apartment, demanding information about Anne. She's connected to Wolfram & Hart, so Angel visits the shelter to confront her. Anne raves about Wolfram & Hart's help with the shelter and their plans for a charity fundraiser called the Highway Robbery Ball. The ball is designed to gain donations with the help of celebrities. A demon named Boone confronts Merl for information on Angel.

Angel surprises Lilah, hiding in the back seat of her car. He describes his joy in playing the game now that there are no rules. In Lindsey's office, Lilah reveals her anxiety about Angel. Boone unexpectedly arrives and offers to assist Wolfram & Hart with their grudge against Angel. Boone recounts his encounter with Angel in the 1920s and their unresolved fight — one he intends to finish.

Wesley and Gunn rave with Cordelia about slaying the demon and, despite their fear, they're excited about their victory. The group leaves to look at a prospective location for their new business while arguing over its name.

Lilah and one of her thugs accost Merl for information.

Angel shows up at the teen shelter late at night, and he uses the pretext of bringing her some clothing donations — some that Cordelia left at the Hyperion. Anne jokingly asks if he's stalking her. Angel offers all the evidence necessary to confirm that he is, then tries to warn her that Wolfram & Hart are planning to steal the money from the fundraiser. Lindsey arrives and pretends to be protecting Anne, bringing Boone with him to fight Angel. Lindsey tries to defend the law firm to Anne, but the information Angel's provided her worries Lindsey, and he discusses the dangerous possibilities with Lilah.

Wounded from the fight, Angel returns to the shelter. Anne tells him that she has realized he is a vampire, but she is unfazed. She states that she's seen terrible things happening to kids on the streets of Los Angeles, and she is willing to ignore just about anything if it means aid to the shelter. Angel points out that she'll likely only see around 5% of the money raised at the charity ball, but Anne tells him even that would be enough to keep the shelter running for a couple of years.

Angel urges her to think about where the other 95% is going, telling her that the money she'll make from the party will have blood on it, even if she can't see it. He asks her to get him inside the fundraiser, telling her he has a video tape with footage that will expose Wolfram & Hart, assuring her its the right thing to do. Anne refuses, reminding him that all she cares about is helping the kids at the shelter.

At the ball, a video of Holland talking about the shelter entertains those at the fundraiser. Lilah introduces Anne to one of her superiors, Nathan Reed, while Lindsey reviews the security plans for the ball. While actors pretending to be bandits collect money and jewelry from the rich attendees, Angel reveals his presence. This leads to a fight between the vampire and Boone on the balcony, and they eventually fall to the main floor. Lindsey searches for the incriminating tape, but discovers that it's not with Angel and Boone is actually working with Angel. Anne gets the tape to the player while Lindsey and Lilah scramble across the floor to stop her. Their attempt is captured on film, but they don't reach her in time and the tape plays.

The tape contains only clips of Cordelia and Wesley acting goofy for the camera. Angel never had anything to incriminate the lawyers in the first place; he was just trying to embarrass them, a plan that has worked thanks to their frenzied attempt to stop him. They notice that Boone has taken off with the donations. Anne confronts Angel, accusing him of having no intention of exposing Wolfram & Hart's scheme. He tells her they would have only covered it up, so he is content with publicly embarrassing the firm. Anne reminds him that she's lost all the charity money, but Angel tells her that he doesn't care — the money was tainted.

Nathan reprimands Lindsey and Lilah for losing the money, embarrassing the firm, and failing to realize Boon was working with Angel. He warns them to start accumulating victories fast, but Lindsey demands to know why they can't just kill Angel since he's causing so much trouble. Nathan informs him that, according to the various prophecies, Angel will play a key role in the apocalypse. However, whose side he will be fighting on is unknown. Wolfram & Hart hope Angel will have turned evil by that point; his obsession with Lindsey and Lilah will likely contribute to that. Nathan finishes by warning the two that Angel is invaluable while they can be replaced.

As Angel dumps his files on Anne, he finds Boone waiting for him in the Hotel's lobby. Boone throws the bag containing the charity donations at Angel's feet. It contains around two and a half million dollars, which he is willing to wager on a fight between the two. Angel tells Boone that he's gambling a lot, and Boone responds that he has to know who will win. The two then launch themselves at each other.

In Anne's office, a battered Angel gives her the stolen money and jewelry. He warns her that she will need to hide it from Wolfram & Hart, and she accepts. Examining a stack of bills, Anne asks Angel about the red stains. He tells her it's blood; seemingly unbothered, Anne says it'll wash.

Continuity

  • Anne first appeared using the alias Chanterelle then Lily in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes "Lie to Me" and "Anne." In the latter episode, she assumed Buffy's alias Anne, apartment, and job.
  • Despite not recognizing each other, Angel and Anne met briefly in the episode "Lie to Me" when he went to investigate the Sunset Club.
  • Cordelia will hold a grudge on Angel for giving her clothes away until he replaces them with gifts ("Disharmony").
  • Anne says she used to think that vampires were "the coolest" until she met one, referring to when Spike led an attack on her vampire worshiper club in "Lie to Me."

Appearances

Individuals

Organizations and titles

Species

Events

Locations

Objects

Death count

  • The two-headed monster, killed by Wesley and Gunn.

Behind the scenes

Broadcast

  • "Blood Money" had an audience of 3.0 million households upon its original airing.[2]

Pop culture references

  • Merl calls Angel's behavior not exactly "Emily Post", referencing the author famous for her books on etiquette.
  • On video, Wes does an impression of Sean Connery.

Goofs

  • As Angel is saying, "You screw with me," the same shot of Lilah looking back at him is shown twice.
  • When Angel supposedly vanishes from Lilah's car, his coat can still be seen on the left side of the screen.

Music

International titles

  • Czech: "Krvavé peníze" (Blood Money)
  • Finnish "Verirahat" (Blood Money)
  • French: "Argent sale" (Dirty Money)
  • German: "Schmutziges Geld" (Dirty Money)
  • Hungarian: "Véres pénz" (Blood Money)
  • Italian: "Denaro sporco" (Dirty Money)
  • Portuguese (Brazil): "Dinheiro Sangrento" (Blood Money)
  • Russian: "Кровавые деньги" (Blood Money)
  • Spanish (Latin America): "Dinero Manchado de Sangre" (Money Stained with Blood)
  • Spanish (Spain): "Dinero Manchado de Sangre" (Money Stained with Blood)
  • Turkish: "Kanlı Para" (Blood Money)

Quotes

Gunn: "Three fifths of the world covered in water, the rest is covered in me!"
Boone: "I've known Angel since Juarez in the twenties. We had a little disagreement over a senorita. I called him out. We fought for three and a half hours."
Lindsey: "Obviously both of you survived."
Boone: "Well, I'd been working on a three day drunk at the time. I wasn't at my peak."
Lilah: "How did it end?"
Boone: "The sun came up. I let him go."
Lilah: "You let him go. Why?"
Boone: "The sun came up. It would have been too easy. Don't you people know anything about honor?"
Angel: "Are you avoiding me, Merl? I ask you for a favor and you're avoiding me. That's impolite."
Merl: "Well, nearly drowning me and leaving me hanging in the sewer ain't exactly Emily Post either."
Angel: "Okay. So we're both rude. You know what? I can live with that. Now, do you have the information I need, or do I have to see what the inside of your head looks like?"
Cordy: "Fun as it is having you guys over day and night, it's getting kind of late."
Wesley: "It's only seven thirty."
Cordy: "Really? Oh. In that case: get out!"
Wesley: "What if you have a vision?"
Cordy: "I'll call you."
Gunn: "What if Angel—"
Cordy: "I thought we weren't going to say the 'A' word."
Lindsey: "Angel is an obstacle to everything that we do. Give me one good reason why we can't just kill him!"
Nathan: "Because Angel is a major player."
Lilah: "In business?"
Nathan: "In the apocalypse."

References

  1. ↑ "Season Two." City of Angel. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Nielsen Ratings for Angel's Second Season." Nielsen Ratings for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, & Firefly. Archived from the original on July 19, 2008.