Five by Five (Angel)

"Five by Five" is the eighteenth episode of the first season of the television show Angel. Written by Jim Kouf and directed by James A. Contner, it was originally broadcast on April 25, 2000 on the WB network. In "Five by Five", guest star Eliza Dushku makes her first appearance on Angel as rogue Slayer Faith, hired by Wolfram & Hart to assassinate Angel in exchange for getting all criminal charges against her from her crimes committed back in Sunnydale dropped. Though Faith agrees, it becomes clear to Angel that she has plans of her own. The episode draws parallels between the flashbacks of Angel towards the part of his life that he felt the first guilt for his actions and Faith at the present time.

"Five by Five"
Angel episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 18
Directed byJames A. Contner
Written byJim Kouf
Production code1ADH18
Original air dateApril 25, 2000
Guest appearance(s)

Plot

A young human gangster finds several demons have murdered his friends. Shocked, the man runs away and the demons chase after him. Angel beheads the demons and rescues the man who turns out to be a key witness needed to testify in court. Faith, the second Slayer, gets off a bus in L.A. then robs a man of his coat, money, and keys. In 1898 Borsa, Romania, Darla leads a blindfolded Angelus to a young gypsy woman bound on the floor. With Darla watching, he morphs and bites her inner thigh. In the present day, Angel attempts to convince the gang member he saved to testify.

At a club, Faith dances and parties with various men. A fight breaks out when Faith begins flirting with another girl's boyfriend. She continues her dancing, knocking down anyone that tries to stop her or get in her way. In a courtroom, Wolfram & Hart is just about to close a case, but Angel shows up at the last minute with the gang member who is to testify against their client. Lilah Morgan and Lindsey McDonald, two lawyers from Wolfram & Hart, hire Faith to assassinate Angel.

Back in 1898, Darla returns to the house to find her Angelus emotional and remorseful. He's been cursed with a soul, and she angrily rejects him because of it. In the present day, Faith works out a deal with the lawyers, and beating to death one of them that dares to challenge her. While they're waiting for lunch with a prospective client, Faith shows up behind Angel and tries to shoot him with a crossbow. Angel catches the bolt and Faith runs off.

After checking with Giles in Sunnydale, Angel plans to go after Faith while Wesley and Cordelia are to lay low. That night, he checks out weapons, when he senses Faith's presence up in the office. She gives him the opportunity to shoot her, and he tries to kneecap her, but the bullet is a blank. After she explains her plans to torture and kill him, she shoots him with a real bullet and leaves. Angel poses as a lawyer at Wolfram & Hart and sneaks into the office of Lindsey McDonald. Lindsey arrives in the office and informs Angel that their high-tech security system has documented Angel's every move on tape.

Cordelia and Wesley try to get into Cordelia's apartment, but Dennis won't let them in at first, because, unbeknownst to Cordelia, Faith is inside waiting for them. They encounter Faith in the apartment who refuses to listen to their attempts to deescalate the situation and Faith knocks out Cordelia. Wesley punches Faith in return, and Faith ends the fight by kicking Wesley across the room. Back in 1898, a newly souled Angelus tries to find a meal on the streets. He knocks out several men and then tries to drink from the woman they were with. His soul keeps him from killing her.

Angel finds Cordelia at her apartment, with Wesley missing. Faith ties him up and tortures him. Angel and Cordelia try to locate Faith. Angel charges into the apartment, stopping Faith from continuing to torture Wesley. A fight breaks out between Angel and Faith, destroying the apartment. Angel hurls himself and Faith out the window, and they land on the alleyway below, Faith initially keeping the upper hand on Angel. The rain starts to pour down outside as Wesley breaks loose and goes downstairs armed with a knife.

With Wesley watching on, Faith seems to tire but Angel no longer defends himself or tries to hurt her. Angel tells Faith he won't "make it easy for her". Faith suddenly breaks down, declaring that she is evil, and begs for Angel to kill her. He refuses, and Faith stops fighting and cries in Angel's arms. Wesley looks on and drops the knife.

Acting

Christian Kane returns as Lindsey in his first appearance since the pilot episode. "There's a lot of sexual tension between Lindsey and Lilah, and Stephanie being one of my really good friends in life, it really did kind of feel like it was us against the world," Kane says. "Everyone else was a series regular and we were fighting for a pole position and although we were against each other we were on the same team... I think that came off on screen."[1]

Production

Producer Tim Minear says because writer Jim Kouf was used to writing scripts for "big feature films", he occasionally "writes scenes that are not producible for a TV show because he is used to working with much more money." Kouf indicated that it should be raining during the final fight scene between Angel and Faith, but Minear decided the rain was too expensive, the "one extra technical complication that’s going to make shooting impossible." However, the night filming began for that scene was "the first night of a big torrential rain storm that we had for several days," Minear says.[2]

Mike Massa, David Boreanaz's stunt double, explains that ratchets - wires that retract at high speeds - were used during Angel and Faith's fight scene to hurl the characters across the room.[3]

Reception

The Futon Critic named it the 10th best episode of 2000, saying "Her breakdown in the show's closing moments was painfully real and left one of the biggest impressions of 2000."[4]

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References
  1. Grimshaw, Sue, Return of the Spirit Boy: an Exclusive Spotlight on Christian Kane, archived from the original on 2008-01-12
  2. Gross, Edward (September 26, 2000), ANGEL: Season One, Episode By Episode with Tim Minear, Part 4, archived from the original on September 5, 2012, retrieved 2007-09-28
  3. Bratton, Kristy, Mike Massa: Stunt Double for "Angel" played by David Boreanaz, archived from the original on 2007-10-28
  4. Brian Ford Sullivan (January 4, 2001). "The 20 Best Episodes of 2000". The Futon Critic. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
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