Are You Now or Have You Ever Been • S02E02 • TPN’s Angel Guide

Sources:
Abbott, Stacey, editor. Reading Angel: The TV Spin-off with a Soul. Palgrave Macmillan. 2005.

Minear, Tim. Audio Commentary. “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been.” Angel. 20th Century Fox. 2003. DVD.

Stafford, Nikki. Once Bitten: An Unofficial Guide to the World of Angel. ECW Press. 2004.

@Bluestockinsara - You pointed out one of the major emotional thrusts of the episode that was hiding from me behind a little bit of mah privilege.

Music Credits:
Opening Theme
Wil Hughes

Outro
"Favorite Secrets" by Waylon Thornton

The Passion of the Nerd
P.O. Box 20161
Boulder, CO
80308

Passion of the Nerd reviews Are You Now or Have You Ever Been From Angel, Season 2, Episode 2. Directed by David Semel. Written by Tim Minear. Starring David Boreanaz as Angel. Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase. Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. And J. August Richards as Charles Gunn. Guest-Starring Melissa Marsala as Judy. And Tony Amendola as The Thesulac Demon.

[WCWit]

"And you thought you'd made a friend. Newsflash: You had!"
That has to be one of the most cutting lines I've ever heard given to a villain-of-the-week

[thomasknash]

I don't know if anyone brought this up, but Angel getting lynched alludes to another thing going on in the 50s - lynchings in the South. It's why I think the demon has a Southern accent - it was the place where fear and paranoia was at its greatest in America during the 50s.

[jgos]

Holy crap.
I wanted that. I needed that.
He redeems himself by providing an avenue for redemption for someone else. He pays forward that which he most wants and may never receive to give himself that which he needs and may never have enough of.

[kentonkruger]

I would argue this is the best single episode of Angel. Maybe not my favorite for enjoyment, but it is a perfect, self-contained story.

[connorblake]

Older Judy: You look the same.
Angel: I'm not.

[MrGeekFreek]

Judy: I don't hear them anymore. Are they gone?

Angel: Yeah.

Judy: It's you.

Angel: Yeah, Judy.  It's me.

Judy: You look the same.

Angel: I'm not.

Judy: They killed you because of me. I killed you.

Angel: No. No. No.

Judy:  He kept them from the door.  He told me I'd be safe. Am I safe?

Angel: You're safe.

Judy:  Can I go out now?

Angel:  Yeah. You can go out.

Judy gives him a big smile and starts to get up from her chair.  Angel helps her up. 

Angel: Let me help you.

Judy: I just need to take a little rest first.  Just a little rest.

Angel:  Easy.

Judy:  I'm so sorry I killed you.  Can you forgive me?

Angel: Of course.

Judy:  I'm just going to rest.  Just for a minute...and then...I'm going to go out.

Judy closes her eyes and dies.

[MrGeekFreek]

When you really stop and think about it the demon is actually more evil and cruel. Judy's been alone in a long empty hotel in a room by herself with nobody but herself and the guilty voices in her head. No TV. No other people. Just her. For 50 years.
At least she died happy.
It's very upsetting to think about.

[TheRedbedhead]

The demon has no arms. Meaning he doesn’t do the actual damage he influences others to destroy themselves.

[katthor]

Me before pushing play: I will not cry this time. Ian will not get to me. I will stay strong.

Me before the video even ends: 😭😭😭

[connorblake]

Oh god I want cry. Moments like Angel and old Judy are what it's about. It's what all the hack and slashing and funny make-up and fangs and soapy love-interest plot lines all serve. It feels so earned. And it's so welcomed when it comes.

[cobbsta]

"Riley is the worse!"
Scott: "Hold my beer"

[callumburns]

Edits are so good on this one. The hard work you put in always pays off because you just make masterpiece after masterpiece. The Buffy fandom is so blessed to have someone like you making these videos that just sparks a new light of interest in the shows all the time. :D

[slashandbones]

This one always stood out because they successfully made Angel neither hero or villain (in the flashback).

[saberstrike]

First off: the Hyperion is definitely superior to the Magic Box. It gives a sense of scale and history and this story casts it as a physical talisman of redemption on Angel's journey. The Magic Box...gave a new set and a new prompt for the magical shenanigans of the week, but affects Buffy the least of all the characters in her show.

Part of what makes this episode work is the fact that the Thesalac's not arch, not camp...just thriving on human misery and enjoying it. One of the great themes of Angel is that just because a system (you know, like life) is broken doesn't mean taking advantage of it isn't evil. We delve into that in Lindsey's arc and Angel's during the middle third of the season, but here we get a villain who doesn't want to rule the world and isn't acting out of petty pique...he just fills a role in the ecology of evil. It rides a wonderful line between "the devil made me do it" and "humans are the real monsters" in that neither is an excuse for the choices we make. The same way "I had no choice" or "she betrayed me" don't justify the twin betrayals of the flashbacks. (Minor Spoiler) Remember, the ultimate theme of this season (if not the show) is "If what we do doesn't matter, than all we matter is what we do." (End Spoiler)

[jennaramos]

and this was the first episode that Angel called Cordelia "Cordy"

The demons accent was something the actor came up with because he thought it fit the theme of the episode, by the by

[lailinshale]

"the cajun voice of bad ideas" is KILLING ME im about to laugh a hole in my lung

[montewilliams]

Another transcendent video! Thank you for sharing. Here’s another reference, in case no one else has noted it: Angel’s hotel room is 217, also a pivotal room at the Overlook in Stephen King’s The Shining.

[ericjohnson]

In addition to Psycho, another Hitchcock film, Vertigo is about a woman named Judy from Salina, Kansas who has her public and hidden private personas.

[annas]

This is honestly my favorite episode of Angel. So pumped for this guide.