Sanctuary (Angel episode)

Infobox Television episode
Title = Sanctuary
Series = Angel


Caption = {Caption|}
Season = 1
Episode = 19
Airdate = May 2, 2000
Production = 1ADH19
Writer = Tim Minear
Joss Whedon
Director = Michael Lange
Guests = Sarah Michelle Gellar
(Buffy)
Eliza Dushku
(Faith)
Christian Kane
(Lindsey)
Stephanie Romanov
(Lilah)
Elisabeth Röhm
(Kate)
Alastair Duncan
(Collins)
Thomas Burr
(Lee Mercer)
Episode list = List of "Angel" episodes
Prev = Five by Five
Next = War Zone

"Sanctuary" is episode 19 of season 1 in the television show "Angel". Co-written by Tim Minear and series creator Joss Whedon and directed by Michael Lange, it was originally broadcast on May 2, 2000 on the WB network.

In "Sanctuary", guest star Sarah Michelle Gellar returns as Buffy, who has come to Los Angeles seeking vengeance against Slayer Faith. Buffy is is shocked to discover Angel is attempting to redeem Faith's violent nature, and Wesley is faced with a crisis of loyalties when the Watcher's Council assassins offer him reinstatement if he gives Faith over to them. Also, evil Wolfram & Hart lawyer Lindsey approaches Kate to help them take revenge on Faith and Angel.

See List of "Angel" episodes.

Plot

Picking up where "Five by Five" left off, Angel takes Faith to his apartment. In a brief, violent vision, Faith charges at Angel with a knife and cuts up his face. When Angel comes up for food to feed Faith, Wesley argues about giving Faith another chance, and Cordelia gets Angel to sign several checks to fund her vacation, so she can be gone for as long as Faith is around.

Downstairs, Faith confesses to Angel that she is haunted by visions of her violent past in Sunnydale. Angel talks to Faith about redemption, saying she has to make amends for her crimes, no matter how hard it is. Meanwhile, Wesley plays darts at a bar, and encounters Weatherby, a member of the Watchers' Council's Special Operations team on the hunt for Faith. The council members give Wesley an opportunity to come back to the Council if he's willing to turn in Faith. They give him a syringe that, if injected, will sedate Faith and let them take her back to England. Wesley agrees on the condition that Angel is left unharmed, to which the team reluctantly agrees.

The lawyers at Wolfram & Hart, upset that Faith has teamed up with Angel, hire a demon to have her killed. The demon sneaks into Angel's apartment and attacks. Faith kills it with a knife, and then is frightened by the sight of the demon's blood on her hands. Without warning, Buffy arrives at Angel's place and is shocked to find Angel hugging Faith.

Buffy is determined to turn Faith in to the police, but Angel objects and the two come to blows. Wesley arrives with the news that the Council is looking for Faith. The two Slayers escape to the roof, where they argue about everything that has happened. Buffy is unwilling to forgive Faith, even though Faith is genuinely sorry. One of the Council members attacks Buffy and Faith as another hovers above the roof in a helicopter. Inside the apartment, Wesley stabs Weatherby with the syringe while Angel runs upstairs and as the two Slayers seek cover against their attackers, Angel bursts through the roof skylight and gets inside the helicopter.

Detective Kate Lockley - guided by Lindsey MacDonald's information - arrests Angel for harboring the fugitive Faith. When Angel and Kate, with Wesley and Buffy in tow, arrive at the police station, they are surprised to see Faith is voluntarily confessing to her crimes. Later, Buffy admits to Angel how hard it was for her to see Faith with him. Angel counters by saying it was not about Buffy, it was about saving Faith's soul. Buffy lashes out by telling Angel she has someone else in her life, and unlike her relationship with Angel, she can trust her new boyfriend. Angel tells her it's good she can move on because he can't; he has no one to share his pain. Angel then tells her that she doesn't know him anymore and to leave L.A. Meanwhile, Faith manages to find peace in her jail cell.

Acting

Main cast

* David Boreanaz as Angel
* Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
* Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce

Guest stars

*Elisabeth Röhm as Kate Lockley
*Christian Kane as Lindsey McDonald
*Thomas Burr as Lee Mercer
*Stephanie Romanov as Lilah Morgan
*Alastair Duncan as Collins
*Eliza Dushku as Faith Lehane
*Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers

Co-stars

*Jeff Ricketts as Weatherby
*Kevin Owers as Smith
*Adam Vernier as Detective Kendrick

Production details

Production designer Stuart Blatt says that filming this episode was challenging due to scheduling problems with Sarah Michelle Gellar. Just a few days before shooting, they learned Gellar would not be available to work outside on the night the scene was supposed to be filmed. "We had to take our rooftop setting and split it into two and shoot everything on the rooftop looking out towards the city in one direction with the real helicopter on the rooftop. Then on the stage, recreate the exact rooftop looking the other direction, shoot everything there, and marry them seamlessly," he explains. "It was one of the more impressive things we ever pulled off." [Citation |title=Angelic Designs for the Undead: an Exclusive Interview with Stuart Blatt and featuring Andrew Reeder |first=Jeff |last=Ritchie |accessdate=11-1-2007 |url=http://www.cityofangel.com/behindTheScenes/bts4/stuartBlatt.html ]

Usually, Joss Whedon's name is listed first in episodes he has co-written and is credited for. In this episode, Tim Minear's name is listed first because he approached the editor and (jokingly) told him that his name comes first.fact|date=August 2007

Writing

Writer Tim Minear says the script for this episode was difficult, because "it was Faith as we had never seen her before. It was sort of easy when it was evil Faith, which was a lot of fun. The problem was trying to make her turn realistic."Citation |url=http://www.timminear.net/archives/angel/000042.html
title=ANGEL: Season One, Episode By Episode with Tim Minear, Part 4 |first=Edward |last=Gross |date=September 26, 2000 |accessdate=2007-09-28 ] He admitted to being nervous about writing Buffy's scenes because of the challenge of writing to her character and tone. He convinced Whedon to come in and write all of Buffy's scenes.

Joss Whedon has said that he explained the process of writing one of his scenes:

Arc significance

Continuity

* Crossover with "Buffy": After this episode, Angel visits Sunnydale in "The Yoko Factor".

* This is first time Angel sees Buffy after the events of "I Will Remember You", which probably contributes to his reaction to her presence.

*This is the last time that Sarah Michelle Gellar appears on the show; though Angel and Spike glimpse what they believe to be Buffy in "The Girl in Question", it is revealed in the canonical Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight comics that the person they saw was a decoy.

Cultural references

The X-Files - When Kate investigates the apartment where Angel and Faith fought, an officer accuses Kate of being "Scully" from X-Files. She corrects him: she is the "Mulder". Unlike the skeptical Scully, she believes.

Translations

* French title: "Sanctuaire" ("Sanctuary")
* German title: "Gehetzt" ("Hounded")
* Italian title: "Vendetta" ("Vengeance")
* Spanish title: "Santuario" ("Sanctuary")
* japanese title: "禁猟区" ("Sanctuary")

References

External links

*
* [http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/Shows/Angel/Stories/Sanctuary Television Without Pity recap]

ee also