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Rm w/a Vu - 1ADH05
The Long: We open on Cordelia showing off her acting talents to Doyle, and complaining about her inability to get a part in a trash bag commercial (see Reference #1). He consoles her until the phone rings (see Goof #1). Angel appears annoyed at Cordelia for not getting the phone, but the answering machine gets it. The call is from Cordelia's old friend Aura. Cordelia doesn't want to talk to her because she knows Aura will ask about her acting jobs and want to know where she lives. Doyle offers let her stay at his place, but she blows him off. Cordelia leaves and Doyle decides to talk to Angel about Cordelia. Angel tells Doyle about her friends in school and how her parents lost all their money (see Reference #2). At Cordelia's apartment she runs into nothing but problems. Mucky water explodes from the sink, then she discovers cockroaches crawling all over the television set.
As she calls the management she steps on a pile of dead roaches and it freaks her out. She calls Doyle for help. At Doyle's apartment he walks in as the phone rings and is about to pick it up when he is greeted by a horned demon. (Listen to the teaser here.)
Doyle is greeted by a demon looking to collect money Doyle owes (see Reference #3). Not having the money, Doyle gives the demon a dresser drawer to the face instead, and runs off. Since Doyle never answered the phone, Cordelia shows up at Angel's, luggage in tow, and invites herself in, but she's hardly a gracious houseguest. The next morning Doyle shows up with a bruised hand from fighting the demon and discovers Cordelia freshly showered in Angel's apartment. Doyle suspects for a moment that Angel and Cordelia had sex together, but Angel assures him Cordelia is just staying over until she finds a better apartment. Doyle asks if anyone called for him lately asking for his address, and Cordelia says yes, a relative. Angel notices the bruise on Doyle's hand. Doyle makes small talk with Cordelia as she redecorates Angel's place (see Continuity #1). Angel says a big guy is here to see Doyle and Doyle bolts, only to find Angel waiting at the back door.
Angel wants to know what Doyle is hiding. Doyle explains how he owes debts to people who hired the demon. Doyle asks if Angel could help. Angel is already sick of Cordelia living there, so Angel makes Doyle a deal with Doyle, find Cordelia an apartment, and he'll take care of the demon. After a frustrating day of apartment hunting, Cordelia agrees to check out a place recommended by a guy Doyle knows. Angel checks out Doyle's place and is jumped by the same demon. Doyle shows Cordelia the apartment his guy found, which isn't even on the market yet because the last owner just left. She loves it, and the price is a steal, so she takes it. As they walk off a ghostly face bulges from the wall watching them (see Goof #2).
Angel gets the upper hand against the demon he is fighting, Griff, and asks who hired him to collect on Doyle. Griff says he is now supposed to kill Doyle because he didn't pay, but Angel talks him into letting Doyle live if he pays up. As Cordelia lies sound asleep in bed in her new apartment, finally settled in, creepy stuff begins. Drawers slam on their own and the radio plays old music. As Cordelia wakes a voice whispers ''What do you think you're doing here?'' At Angel's place Angel explains to Doyle how the demon had orders to kill Doyle for not paying up, but he can pay up to live now. Angel wants to know why Doyle lives the way he does, but Doyle says he has bright spots in his life, like Cordelia. At Cordelia's place the glass of water on her night stand boils and the bed levitates. Cordelia cries that she's from Sunnydale and she's not scared.
The next morning Cordelia gets up and gets ready for the day as a very dead-looking lady appears in the bathroom mirror watching her. As Cordelia tries to clean up things start to slam about and wind blows, but Cordelia is unimpressed by the haunting (see Cool Quotes #1). When Doyle and Angel stop by, the creepiness continues. Though Cordelia tries to pretend it's not happening, the guys catch on fast. The word DIE appears in blood on the wall. Angel says she should leave the place, but Cordelia likes the apartment. Doyle suggests they cleans the place. Cordelia threatens the ghost that she would rather die then give up the apartment (see Reference #4). The guys get her out of there to figure out what to do next. After they leave we hear a voice cheerfully agreeing with Cordelia about dying.
Back at the office, the gang researches Cordelia's building to figure out who's haunting it, and why. Cordelia thinks she needs this apartment to prove her punishment for her old life is over (see Continuity #2). Doyle discovers Maude Pearson, who built the building, died there in 1946. Cordelia thinks that has to be it (see Reference #5). The spell to rid the place of the ghost is complicated, but Doyle knows a guy who can get the things they need (see Reference #6-7). Angel decides to check out the death with Kate. Cordelia stays alone in the office doing more research (see Reference #8). Later, Cordelia takes a call from Angel, who tells her to meet him at the apartment. Once there, Cordelia doesn't find Angel. She finds the ghost of Maude Pearson instead, who's become quite good at sounding like Angel. Cordelia tries to leave, but the door is locked. The ghost says it's too bad Cordelia wouldn't leave son alone.
At the police station Angel researches Maude's death other deaths at Cordelia's apartment with Kate. Kate teases Angel that he's almost acting like a real private investigator (see Reference #9). They find that there was an investigation into Maude's death. The police suspected Maude was killed by her son who disappeared when she died, but never proved anything. Angel realizes there might be other deaths and has Kate check for suicides in the apartment. They discover three of them, all single women in Cordelia's apartment. Angel calls the office and finds Doyle there. They listen to the messages on the answering machine and hear Angel telling Cordelia to meet him at the apartment, but Angel never made that call. They rush to save Cordelia. Back at Cordelia's, the ghost of Maude has a little conversation with the new tenant. In the car Angel tells Doyle that Maude was killed by her son and the ghost is taking out revenge on other single girls in the apartment.
Cordelia gives in and says she will leave, but Maude wants Cordelia dead now. The ghost fashions an electrical-cord noose for her and hangs Cordelia from the ceiling. As Cordelia hangs, close to becoming another apparent suicide, Doyle and Angel bust in to save her. As they try to get rid of the ghost with a spell, things get a bit dodgy, with debris flying everywhere, and Maude still spooking Cordelia. Cordelia is totally broken down and can't help them fight Maude. Angel decides they need to leave, but at the door, they're greeted by Griff and two thugs. All three have guns pointed at them.
Griff says he lied about letting Doyle pay. With things swirling everywhere, Angel and Doyle fight the thugs, and Maude gets in on the act. Maude scares off the human thug. Maude launches knives through the air. The knives fell one of the demons. Maude grabs Cordelia and takes her back into the bedroom. There, Cordelia bargains for her life, while Doyle and Angel duke it out with Griff in the living room. Maude pushes the wrong button, calling Cordelia a ''stupid little bitch.'' Cordelia stands up to Maude, telling her off like the bitch she is (see Cool Quotes #1 and Reference #10-11). Cordelia's new-found venom seems to scare off Maude. Angel is able to snap Griff's neck. There's something strange in Cordelia's eyes as she returns to the living room. Cordelia starts bashing at the wall with a lamp, and Maude reappears, but Cordelia doesn't stop until she's broken through the brick, and exposes a skeleton.
A flashback shows that Maude's son Dennis never ran off, Maude buried him alive in the wall, because she didn't want him marrying his fiancee and leaving her. When she finally had him all sealed up, though, she keeled over dead of a heart attack. Dennis' ghost, now finally set free, finishes Maude off for good. At Doyle's place Doyle installs a new deadbolt on his door. Angel wants to know how Doyle got this way, but Doyle evades him, asking for time. At Cordelia's place Cordelia talks on the phone with Aura about how great her new apartment is and the celebrities she lives near (see Reference #12). As she mentions a roommate she never sees to Aura the ghost of Dennis cleans up the place and watches television.
Maude and Dennis Pearson are ghosts, the spirits of dead humans who still
walk the Earth in an ethereal form. They seem to be able to become invisible
and have telekinetic powers. Maude displayed the power to imitate voices.
We also see two Kailiff demons in this episode. They seem to be humans with rows of horns on their head and face, big noses and eyebrow ridges. Both of them work as money collectors and hit men.
David Boreanaz as Angel
Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
Glenn Quinn as Allen Francis Doyle
Elisabeth Rohm as Detective Kate Lockley
Beth Grant as Maude Pearson
Markus Redmond as Griff
Denney Pierce as Vic
Greg Collins as Keith
Corey Klemow as the Young Man
Lara McGrath as the Manager
B.J. Porter as Dennis Pearson
Lyle Kanouse as the Disgusting Man (Uncredited)
Beth Grant, who played Maude Pearson, played Iris Finster in the X-Files episode Signs and Wonders 7.09. She was also in the 1991 film Switched At Birth, which also had Alyson Hannigan in it. Beth Grant played Sophie and Alyson played Gina Twigg (age 13-16). Beth was also in the film Dance With Me, which had Harry Groener, who played Mayor Wilkins on Buffy, and was in the film City Slickers II, which had David Paymer in it, who is Cordelia's neighbor's brother! There is a good page devoted to Beth at http://www.what-a-character.com/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=GrantB.
Denney Pierce, who
played Vic, has an online stunt resume at http://www.stuntnet.com/men/denneypierce.htm.
Corey Klemow, who played
the young man, has his own web site at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/CKlemow/. You might recognize him from his Levi's commercial.
I contacted him though e-mail and he was very helpful and had some
interesting trivia about his episode. You
can read what he had to say here.
