Angel Investigated - 2.2 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been

Posted by Jason Chamberlain on 10.28.2009

A dark chapter in Angel's history is revealed this week, as is the violent and bloody story of the gang's new headquarters, the Hyperion Hotel!

2.2 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been
Writer: Tim Minear
Director: David Semel

Whedon Speak

Wesley: I've been accused of a great many things in my time. But paranoid has never been one of them. Unless people have been saying it behind my back...

Cordelia: Seventy years of violence, mayhem and paranoia. Bad vibes.
Angel: We're moving in.
Cordelia: I mean, a few throw pillows and what's not to love?

Case Files

This episode is often cited in fan’s “best episodes” lists, including Joss Whedon’s himself... The episode's title is based on the questions posed during the trials held by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations associated with Joseph McCarthy, the most famous question being: "Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?"...

Jeremy Thomas has the full review!

The 1950's are often viewed as an idyllic time…an era that is more idealistic and innocent than today. We remember the families from television—the Cleavers and Lucy and Desi and such—and we think about how much the American Dream was alive then. Of course, when we do so, we forget about what lies underneath the shiny coat of memories…the Korean War, and the Suez Crises. We forget about the escalation of the Cold War and the rise of McCarthyism. For all of its luster, the 1950's were a time of fear and paranoia, when people were afraid of the social change that was about to come in racial equality and of the infamous "Red Menace." Leave it to Tim Minear and the cast and crew of Angel to remind us of those times and how much they shaped what we are as a nation today.

In "Are You Now or Have You Ever," the theme is paranoia and fear. The crew is investigating the Hyperion Hotel for reasons that Cordelia and Wesley don't understand at first, and Angel isn't willing to say. When they learn hints of the truth—that Angel has a dark bit of history with the place—they start to wonder exactly what is going on. What is in fact going on is a brilliant little piece of story written by Minear, who was the man responsible for some of the best scripts the show would have to offer such as "Hero" and "Sanctuary" from the first season. Minear always understood the show's vision and the noir tone the series conveyed, and in some of his best pieces of work he carried that vision and tone beautifully. This is one of the best of those examples. Flashback episodes with Angel were always some of my favorites, and this was great in that it showed us a much-ignored point from Angel's past—the era where he had his soul, but had not yet found his purpose. So instead he hangs out at the Hyperion while tension and paranoid unveil around him. We have the obvious ones like McCarthyism and racial tensions, but there are also a few brief references to others. The Actor serves as a brief allusion to the stigma of being a homosexual at the time, which is far greater than it is now. And all of this is ample feeding ground for the Thesulac demon to bloat himself on.

There are so many things that work in this particular episode. First off, this is another example of what I talked about last week, the idea of introducing Angel's descent into a dark place. Last week it was the accidental killing of a good demon; this week, it was a look at his past and how he caused the deaths of multiple people through his inaction. Angel was lost at this point in his life, and he is, as Minear called him, "cynical, I-don't-get-involved guy." He still hasn't outgrown his vampiric contempt for humanity; he just wants to be apart from them. When he finally finds someone that he deems worth helping, she betrays him to save her own skin. It's interesting to think about, within the confines of the Whedonverse, what might have happened if Judy hadn't done so. Would Angel have started on his path toward redemption then? Who would he have been by the time he found the Slayer? It makes for something interesting to think about, to say the least.

This episode is clearly a film-lover's episode. To start with, you have the most obvious moment, the scene at the Griffiths Observatory. If it looks like it came right out of a 1950's movie, that's because it kind of did. That location is the same place that the classic Rebel Without a Cause was filmed. It has been noted that Melissa Marsala, who plays Judy, looks quite a bit like Natalie Wood did in that scene, and that's no accident. Note how Angel is dressed exactly like James Dean is during those scenes. It's more subtle than you realize, but it really underscores the era in which the flashbacks are set nicely. Even aside from that there are several references to other films, such as Room 217, which Angel is staying in and is the infamous haunted hotel room in The Shining. The appearance of the P.I. with his nose taped up is a direct reference to Roman Polanski's cameo in his 1974 classic Chinatown. And even without all of these references, you have the film noir that pervades the episode. This is the episode I usually show to people who consider Joss Whedon shows to be something less than compelling or cinematic.

For me though, it is the little touches and the things that director David Semel did to make this episode so great. He gives the scenes in the halls of the Hyperion a tight, claustrophobic feel that really helps push the tension and the paranoid mood of the episode. The way he shoots the first meeting between the Thesulac and Angel is nicely done, and is just low enough to show the red rope burn around Angel's neck. Angel's decision to leave the humans to the demon is still shocking, but that mark of betrayal around his throat adds just a bit of understanding to him. At the same time, it's well-acted and features some good performances by the cast of regulars and in particular Boreanaz, plus Marsala as Judy and one of my favorite character actors, John Kepalos, as Ronald Meeks the hotel manager. The only thing that brings it down is the Thesulac's appearance, which to me was just a wee too poorly done to work quite right. I suppose we also could have seen more of Wesley and Cordy, but otherwise this was a top-notch episode that I can watch over and over.

Shawn S. Lealos	Are You Now or Have You Ever Been is one of the greatest episodes of Angel in the show’s great run. I might go as far to say it is one of the best episodes of any Joss Whedon show. Written by Tim Minear, who penned the heartbreaking Hero in season one, this episode is a full-fledged film noir. The flashback takes place in 1952, which is a nice switch from all the 19th Century flashbacks we usually get and is used in concordance with the actual storyline instead of just bearing a similarity to the present day action. Angel lives in The Hyperion Hotel in 1952 and soon finds that a ghostly spirit is talking to the residents, making them do unspeakable evils. In the last episode, Angel accidentally ended up in the Hyperion and it was clear he recognized the place. This episode is meant to allow Angel Investigations to move into the building but first Angel needs to - you guessed it - atone for his sins. The sin in question is to basically walk away, allowing a demon within the walls to slaughter everyone there after they turn on Angel and hang him by his neck to die. It is one of the few times Angel reaches out to help someone at that time of his life, a young girl who robbed her boss. In return, she points her finger at Angel blaming him for a murder that never occurred. Angel simply turns his back on the people of the hotel and goes into seclusion, cutting himself off from the world. Also a highlight is the new group dynamics. Gunn is now a full-time member of the team now and his back-and-forth with Wesley is humorous (When Angel believes it is the spirit making them argue, Cordelia has to explain they did it all the way over in the car). But the best part of this episode is the flashbacks and Minear, along with director David Semel, creates an amazing look that is unlike anything you have seen on the show. It is more cinematic than what I am used to seeing on a television show, almost a mix of The Shining, with its long dark hallways, and any number of classic Film Noirs. When the episode comes to an end there is an epilogue of the flashback in present day and Angel is finally able to find peace for his actions by proving there is such a thing as forgiveness. It is a bittersweet and perfect end to a perfect episode. * Who else thinks it is ironic Angel chooses the site of one of his most regretful actions since regaining his soul to be his new home.	10
Ronny Sarnecky	Whenever “Buffy” or “Angel” ran a “flashback” style episode, I found them boring. It wouldn’t be until I started watching the two series on DVD that I learned to appreciate the back story and depth that these episodes gave to the characters. It’s been a long time since I last watched season two of Angel. While watching this episode, I was thinking that I have finally watched a boring episode of “Angel” since doing these reviews. However, after analyzing this episode more carefully, I find this episode to be a very good show. We all have seen the flashbacks of Angel pre-vampire. We saw Angel as Angelus. We even saw Angelus when he became a vampire with a soul, and his down and out days shortly before he met Buffy. What we hadn’t seen was what happened between Angel becoming the vampire with a soul and the time before he met Buffy. This episode helped fill in a little of those gaps. This episode showed Angel as a loner, who wasn’t ready to be the champion helper of humans that we know today. At the time, he was still untrusting of humans, while still feeling the guilt that he must carry for all the torture that he put people through as Angelus. It appeared that Judy was the first person he tried to help. How was he rewarded? She sold him out, by lying, and had a lynch mob hang Angel. By the end of the flashbacks, it was shown that Angel had even more contempt for humans, and was nowhere close to being the Angel of today. This episode provided a creative way for Angel Investigations to get a new office building. Instead of just moving into a random office, this building and Angel both had a history together, and by finding where the money was that he hid decades ago, it made sense that Angel could afford to buy such a place.	8.5
Jason Chamberlain	There’s a reason this episode is constantly cited as a favourite by fans and even Joss Whedon himself. It’s amazing. Easily the best episode of the series so far, IMHO. Aside from ushering in our new home, the Hyperion, it tells an amazing story of Angel when he was considerably less of a nice guy, even though he did have a soul. This was an Angel who couldn’t give a rats ass about atonement and just wanted to be left alone, although it didn’t take much for him to try and help someone when the opportunity arose. Seeing him a) get totally screwed over by the woman he tried to help and b) his pretty justified but still shocking reaction to it is amazing. It is also a genuinely creepy episode from top to bottom, from the haunting hallways of the hotel to the sight of the suicidal sales man holding a pillow to his head seconds before he shoots himself, to the frightening hatred and violence of the hotel guests. Scary stuff! And a perfect episode.	10
Mike Gorman	This truly is one of the best episodes of the Angel series, in story and production. A trip down memory lane for Angel leads to him revisiting the scene of one of his greatest regrets and the discovery of a new headquarters for Angel Investigations. Presented as a series of flashbacks and scenes in the present, "Are You Now or Have You Ever" captures perfectly the hysteria that gripped our nation during that time period and presents us with a deep look into events that shaped Angel's past. In my opinion, this one episode's flashbacks were better than all of the Angelus scenes to come throughout the series. The Angel of the past is not the champion we know today and his choices are shocking. The flashbacks to the fifties are handled so well visually that you feel as if you are watching a film produced during that period. At this time Angel is a loner still trying to find his place in the world as a vampire with a soul. He reaches out to an innocent who turns on him, and because of this he chooses to walk away instead of attempting to save an entire hotel of people from a demon. Well, I suppose "turned on him" is a weak way to say that a woman betrayed him and turned him over to angry mob who hung him. In true Whedon fashion however, Angel is offered a chance at redemption for his actions in the past and is able to gift forgiveness to the woman who was still alive, trapped by her guilt and the demon it fed. This episode is a classic and should be a must see for any fan of the characters. It shows the rich development that would continue to be a part of the show's second season.	9.5

GRR!!! ARGH!!!

The 411: Angel's descent into darkness is given historical context in this episode, and features one of the show's best scripts as written by Tim Minear. The top-notch acting and directing make this a definite can't miss episode and paves the way for what's to come. This won't be the last time we see Angel leave humans to die this season, and that later instance has this one to thank for paving the way.

Final Score:  9.5   [  Amazing ]