Billy (Angel)

Last updated
"Billy"
Angel episode
Episode no.Season 3
Episode 6
Directed byDavid Grossman
Written by Tim Minear
Jeffrey Bell
Production code3ADH06
Original air dateOctober 29, 2001 (2001-10-29)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Fredless"		Next →
"Offspring"
Angel season 3
List of episodes

"Billy" is episode 6 of season 3 in the television show Angel . Written by Tim Minear and Jeffrey Bell and directed by David Grossman, it was originally broadcast on October 29, 2001 on the WB television network. In this episode, Angel investigates a wave of violence against women throughout Los Angeles, caused by Billy's ability to infect men with murderous misogyny. Cordelia seeks the aid of Lilah, who is a victim of Billy’s power, while Fred finds herself in danger from an infected Wesley.

Contents

Plot

Angel teaches Cordelia how to sword fight so that she can defend herself if Angel isn't there to protect her. Lilah finds Billy, the man Angel was forced to rescue from hell, in her office talking with Gavin Park. Lilah tells Gavin to stay away from her clients. Gavin attacks her, smashing her head into a glass case and strangling her.

Cordelia has a vision of a woman being beaten by her husband in a convenience store. Wesley gets surveillance photos from the crime, in which they spot Billy. Wesley, Gunn, and Angel track down Billy; however, the police arrive first to take Billy into custody for phoning in a tip on the location of a murder victim. Lilah reveals that Billy's touch turns men into vicious misogynists. Wesley and Fred examine Billy's blood cells through the microscope and observes that his power is in his blood, saliva, and sweat. They are affected by Billy's power and begin fighting.

Angel tracks Billy's last location to a party at his cousin's house, where he discovers that Billy's entire family is aware of his situation and want him gone. Cordelia finds Billy waiting for a private plane at the airport. He's not interested in talking with her, and she debilitates him with a stun gun to his groin. Angel arrives to help Cordelia and Billy touches Angel's face, but is unaffected, having long since lost the capacity to feel hatred. As Angel and Billy fight, Lilah shoots Billy dead before Cordelia can get a clear shot with her crossbow.

Fred forgives Wesley for the fight. Wesley, consumed with guilt, worries that Billy brought out something that was already inside him deep down, he doesn't know who he is or how to return to life as it was before.

Production

Dylan Blim invokes John F. Kennedy Jr. who was a member of the family himself—but adamantly disliked the conduct of relatives. [1] Dylan is aware that Angel is a vampire with the potential to kill Billy but still invites him into the family compound. Kennedy had also openly criticized relatives engaging in 'bad behavior'.

Reception

Stephanie Romanov says the ending to this episode was one of her "favorite Lilah moments. It was the only time Lilah was a hero." [2]

DVD Verdict called this episode a The Shining homage with an "unsubtle metaphor" that "misogyny is BAD." [3]

The Futon Critic named it the 36th best episode of 2001, saying "No show pushes as many buttons at the same time as this one." [4]

In 2021, Paste named the episode the most terrifying episode of the Buffyverse, writing "When it comes to horror, things like jumpscares, bodies falling out of closets, or other similar genre staples are the kind that frighten you for a moment, maybe two, and then they're gone. Billy's horror operates from the opposite direction, capitalizing on quiet moments and the slow burn of it all: the haunted look in Lilah's eyes as she steps out of the shadows to reveal her face mottled with bruises, or the cruelty in Wesley's voice as he taunts and terrorizes Fred. It's a kind of unsettling, skin-crawling horror that will sit with you long after the credits have rolled." [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Angel</i> (1999 TV series) American television series (1999–2004)

Angel is an American supernatural television series, a spinoff of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffy's creator, writer and director Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt. It aired on The WB from October 5, 1999, to May 19, 2004, consisting of five seasons and 110 episodes. Like Buffy, it was produced by Whedon's production company, Mutant Enemy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wesley Wyndam-Pryce</span> Character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Played by Alexis Denisof, Wesley first appeared in the fourteenth episode of Buffy's third season in 1999, appearing in nine episodes before moving over to spin-off series Angel where he became a main character for all five seasons. Following Angel's final season, the character's story is continued in the 2007 canonical comic book series Angel: After the Fall.

"That Vision Thing" is episode 2 of season 3 in the television show Angel. Written by Jeffrey Bell and directed by Bill L Norton, it was originally broadcast on October 1, 2001 on the WB network. In "That Vision-Thing", Cordelia's vision gift grows dangerous when it begins physically affecting her. She is on the verge of death when Angel discovers Wolfram & Hart lawyer Lilah Morgan is sending the painful visions to force Angel to free a man imprisoned in an alternate dimension.

"To Shanshu in L.A." is episode 22 of season 1 of the television show Angel. Written and directed by David Greenwalt, it was the Season One finale, and originally broadcast on May 23, 2000 on the WB network. In this episode, Wolfram & Hart lawyers send a demon named Vocah to reclaim the mystical scroll Angel stole from them, which is needed to raise the Beast. Angel eventually takes back the scroll but fails to prevent the ritual in time. Meanwhile, Wesley translates the Shanshu Prophecy, and discovers that it means Angel will become human, after he fulfills his destiny. At the end of the episode it is revealed that the Beast is in fact Darla, Angel's sire.

"Through the Looking Glass" is episode 21 of season 2 in the television show Angel. Written and directed by Tim Minear, it was originally broadcast on May 15, 2001 on the WB network. It is the second episode in a three-part arc.

"Carpe Noctem" is episode 4 of season 3 in the television show Angel.

"Quickening" is episode 8 of season 3 in the television show Angel.

"Loyalty" is episode 15 of season 3 in the television show Angel.

"The Price" is episode 19 of season 3 in the television show Angel, originally broadcast on the WB network. In this episode, the Hyperion Hotel is infested with silicone slug-like parasites that dry up their human hosts. When Fred becomes infected, Gunn turns to the angry and reclusive Wesley for help. Angel is stunned when his lost infant son reappears, now an adolescent boy calling himself the Destroyer.

"Tomorrow" is the 22nd and final episode of season 3 in the television show Angel. The episode was written and directed by executive producer David Greenwalt. The narrative of the season three finale deals with Angel's complex relationship with his son. The episode and season is left on a cliffhanger of Angel being thrown to the bottom of the ocean. This is the last episode written by Greenwalt, as he left the show after this season and was no longer an executive producer or the showrunner. He would return to direct an episode in the show's fifth and final season.

"Ground State" is episode 2 of season 4 in the television show Angel. In this episode, Wesley, now a hardened demon-hunter/killer with his own gang, leads the search to Denza who tells them that the Axis talisman will aid him in their search for Cordelia. Meanwhile, Gwen Raiden, a young mercenary with uncontrollable electrical abilities, is also looking for the talisman at the request of her employer, a wealthy businessman with connections to Wolfram & Hart.

"Spin the Bottle" is episode 6 of season 4 in the television show Angel. Written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon, it was originally broadcast on November 10, 2002 on the WB television network. In "Spin the Bottle", Lorne performs a magic spell on Cordelia to help her regain her memory, but instead the spell causes all the Angel Investigations members to revert to their teenage personae.

"Apocalypse, Nowish" is seventh episode of fourth season of the television show Angel. Written by Steven S. DeKnight and directed by Vern Gillum, it was originally broadcast on November 17, 2002 on the WB network. The WB referred to this episode as "Rain of Fire" when it was first aired, which DeKnight attributes to "legal issues" over the title's reference to the 1979 film Apocalypse Now.

"Salvage" is episode 13 of season 4 in the television show Angel, originally broadcast on the WB television network. After discovering Lilah’s dead body, a grieving Wesley breaks rogue slayer Faith out of prison so she can help track down Angelus. Meanwhile, Lorne performs a sanctuary spell to keep Angelus out of the hotel while Cordelia—secretly revealed to be the big evil controlling the Beast—confides in Connor that she is pregnant.

"Slouching Toward Bethlehem" is episode 4 of season 4 in the television show Angel. Its title derives from a line from the W. B. Yeats poem "The Second Coming".

"Players" is episode 16 of season 4 in the television show Angel. Gwen Raiden returns to ask Gunn to help her rescue a young girl from a wealthy and powerful tycoon. Meanwhile, Angel and the rest of his team are researching Cordelia’s sudden pregnancy.

"Peace Out" is the 21st episode of the 4th season in the television show Angel.

"Home" is episode 22 of season 4 in the television show Angel. Written and directed by Tim Minear, it was originally broadcast on May 7, 2003 on the WB network. In the Season Four finale, Connor – having defeated Jasmine in the previous episode – plans to blow himself up with a comatose Cordelia and other hostages, while an undead Lilah Morgan offers Angel Investigations control of the Wolfram & Hart L.A. branch.

References

  1. ↑ "Jfk Jr. Calls Kin 'Poster Boys For Bad Behavior'". Archive.seattletimes.com. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  2. ↑ Stafford, Nikki (2004), Once Bitten: An Unofficial Guide to the World of Angel, ECW Press, pp. 207–210, ISBN   1-55022-654-1
  3. ↑ Cullum, Brett (October 20, 2004), DVD Verdict Review - Angel: The Complete Third Season, archived from the original on December 22, 2007, retrieved 2007-12-30
  4. ↑ Brian Ford Sullivan (January 2, 2002). "The 50 Best Episodes of 2001 - #40-31". The Futon Critic. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
  5. ↑ Coates, Lauren (October 29, 2021), "On "Billy," The Buffyverse's Most Terrifying Episode, and the Horror of Violent Misogyny", Pastemagazine.com, retrieved October 29, 2021

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.