"Angel" Habeas Corpses (TV Episode 2003) Poster

(TV Series)

(2003)

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7/10
More stuff with the Beast
katierose2955 March 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This episode sets up a lot of stuff for season five. Especially, the temporary destruction of Wolfram & Hart, the zombie security system, and the death of the little girl from the White Room. I don't love this episode, but it has some fun parts. If you're watching the season on DVD, you could probably skip it and not miss much plot-wise. But, it does have some real nice Lilah and Wes stuff, so I recommend that you see it if you get a chance.

Basically, this episode revolves around that Beast guy. It turns out that he has some connection to Conner. (Honestly, I'm not sure what that connection IS exactly, but I don't really care either. I sort of breeze out when Conner's whining about his problems.) Anyway, Conner is hurt when Cordy seems to regret sleeping with him. Thinking that Cordy's feelings might have something to do with her blaming him for the Beast (or whatever), he goes to Wolfram and Hart for some answers about his origins. In the meantime, Wes has broken up with Lilah, saying that they have to choose sides and he must be a White Hat. Lilah's in a bad mood. And it gets even worse when the Beast attacks Wolfram & Hart. Wes gets Lilah out, but Conner is trapped inside.

Wes goes to Angel to report that Conner is in danger. Angel is still furious about seeing Cordy and Conner together. When Wesley arrives, Fred is impressed that he had an inside man at Wolfram & Hart. Gunn is still angry at Wes and the two of the bicker. Still, Team Angel heads over to Wolfram & Hart to get Conner. All the lawyers are dead and turning into zombies. Team Angel and Conner wind up in the White Room and see the Beast killing the evil Little Girl. She uses the last of her strength to send them back to the Hyperion but not before telling them that the "Answer is among you." At the hotel, Angel tells Cordy that he knows that she slept with Conner and that he wants them both out of the Hyperion.

There are some good parts to this episode. I think that this crisis really puts Wes back on Team Angel. He's helping them full time again and it's good to see back at the Hyperion where he belongs. Plus, I love Wes and Lilah's break up scene. With the apocalypse and all, Wesley's saying that it's time to pick sides. Lilah chooses evil, but he has to go with good. Wes has his own moral code and he always picks the side that he believes is right. Lilah is furious about getting dumped. Her comment about the world not being black and white is one of the most profound statements of the series. Once you add some black to the white you get grey and no matter how much white you add after that, you still only have grey. I mean wow! I love that. It's saying that sometimes you do things or see things that you can't come back from. It's like a preview of the moral dilemmas that Team Angel will face in season five, from someone who's worked for Wolfram & Hart and knows what she's talking about. Also, I like Lorne's double take when Team Angel just appears in the lobby of the Hyperion. He squints at them, then at his sea-breeze and it just makes me laugh.

On the down side, I'm sad to see Gavin go. He was so evil and sleazy and --Okay, I'm shallow-- good looking. Also, given the revelations about Cordy later in the season, why is she so upset in this episode? She's saying that sex with Conner was just a one time thing and looks upset to find herself in bed with him. And when Angel tells Cordy that he knows about her and Conner sleeping together, Cordy gets this horrified looks and whispers, "Oh, God?" Why would she do that? Is she just scared that Angel might do something to upset her plan or what?

My favorite part of the episode: Wes going into Wolfram & Hart to save Lilah. The two of them have a really interesting relationship and I think that they have some genuine feelings for each other underneath their insults. Wes risking his life to rescue her is just a sweet indication of how much he cares. Sadly, they don't admit the depth of their feelings until it's too late.
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9/10
Funny thing about black and white, you mix it together and you get gray. And it doesn't matter how much white you try and put back in, you're never gonna get anything but gray
SleepTight6663 March 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Funny thing about black and white, you mix it together and you get gray. And it doesn't matter how much white you try and put back in, you're never gonna get anything but gray - And the greatness of season 4 carries on, although not as spectacular as the previous episode, it still blows me away. Only one thing that really bothers me is 'Gunn's attitude towards 'Wesley', it becomes almost unbearable. I really wish the zombies had either eaten 'Gunn' or turned him into a zombie, too bad they didn't though. Stephanie Romanov owned the episode, hands down, she looked smoking. As much as I love 'Wes', I really wanted to slap him when he dumped 'Lilah', it's the biggest mistake he ever made but at least it gave us 'Lilah's black and white speech - I don't see your Texas-gal-pal wearing that color. Come to think of it, she prefers black. The whole zombie lawyer thing could not have been better, seriously, too bad all those evil lawyers had to die because of it though and it was also obvious that 'Lilah' wasn't gonna live for much longer *snobs*. I also find the 'Cordy' storyline fascinating, on first watching you wouldn't get what the hell is going through her skull but on rewatchings you'd understand that the thing that is possessing 'Cordy' is just making 'Angel' jealous, that way it can distract him while doing it's evil plans. Oh and 'The Beast' truly owns, I love his devil-ish looks and that he ain't much for talking but instead he's a 'Kill, destroy, Boom' kinda guy. I still can't stress enough how much I love those damned zombie lawyers! Especially zombie 'Gavin', it was a shame that Daniel Dea Kim left the show though. This is another brilliant piece of the season 4 puzzle. CONNOR: What's a zombie? ANGEL: It's an undead thing. CONNOR: Like you? ANGEL: No, zombies are slow-moving, dimwitted things that crave human flesh. CONNOR: Like you. (9.5 out of 10)
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7/10
Saving Private Connor
Joxerlives18 March 2012
Warning: Spoilers
HABEAS CORPSES

The Good; Angel and co play Saving Private Connor during the fall of WR&H

The Bad; Angel seems very out of character with his jealousy for CC and Connor but I guess love makes you do the wacky?

Best line: Angel ; "Now take your new boyfriend and get out!" just beating Gunn's "Thanks for the newsflash Captain Obvious!"

Jeez, how did they get away with that? The Beast slaughtering EVERYONE at WR&H!

Apocalypses: 5

Angel Clichés In disguise; 8

DB get's his shirt off; 12

Cheap Angel; 5

Fang Gang in bondage: Cordy: 5 Angel: 12 Wes: 6 Gunn; 4 Lorne; 4 Fred; 2

Fang gang knocked out: Cordy: 12 Angel: 15 Wes: 5 Doyle; 1 Gunn; 1 Lorne; 4 Groo; 1

Kills: I figure everyone nails about 5 zombies each? Cordy: 5 vamps, 3 demons Angel; 41 vamps, 57 and 1/2 demons, 5 zombies, 8 humans Doyle; 1 vamp Wes; 12 demons+3 vamps, 5 zombies, 2 humans Kate; 3 vamps Faith; 16 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans. Gunn; 11 vamps+ 12 demons, 5 zombies, 1 human. Groo; 1 demon Fred; 3 vamp+ 1 demon, 5 zombies Connor; 8 vamps, 5 zombies, 2 demons

Fang Gang go evil: Cordy: 2 Angel: 2 Gunn; 1 Wes; 1

Alternate Fang Gang: Cordy: 4 Angel: 10 Fred; 2 Wes; 1 Gunn; 1

Characters killed: about 200 at WR&H, evil sure but still 250

Recurring characters killed; byebye Gavin but he's evil so screw him 8;

Total number of Angel Investigations: 5 Angel, Gunn, Fred, Lorne, Wes

Angel Investigations shot: Angel: 11 Wes; 1

Packing heat; Wes; 7 Doyle; 1 Angel; 3 Gunn; 1

Notches on Fang Gang bedpost: Cordy: 5 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast+Phantom Dennis+Groo+Connor Angel: 5; Buffy, Darla and The Transcending Furies Wes; 3; Virginia, the bleached blonde and Lilah Gunn; 1 Fred Fred; 1 Gunn Groo; 1Cordy

Know the face, different character; 4

Parking garages; 6,

Buffy characters on Angel; 16 Wetherby, Collins and Smith. Angel, Cordy, Oz, Spike, Buffy, Wes, Faith, Darla, Dru, The Master, Anne, Willow and Harmony

What the fanficcers thought; Read a nice one where Lilah goes to drown her sorrows in a bar after breaking up with Wes and runs into Kate who is leaving LA that night. They get drunk together and end up hooking up

Questions and observations; The shortest teaser ever, Angel basically storms off the roof lashing out at everything on the way down. Wes and Lilah break up and never get back together. Lilah actually shows some pity for Gavin describing him as 'Poor bastard'. Lorne and Gunn's idea that maybe Connor isn't linked to the beast and it's just the mystical hotspot behind Caritas is actually pretty sound, rare that anyone tries to 'Scully' Angel (well maybe Sheryl Crow?). Are the zombies actually a satire of corporate life? Angel says he has a photographic memory as we suspected. Why doesn't Lilah try to put a round in the Beast's eye? Love Lorne's little look at his drink when the AI appear back in the Hyperion foyer.

Marks out of 10; 7/10
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6/10
Zombie Lawyers
Samuel-Shovel30 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
In "Habeas Corpses", after the rain of fire that closed last episode, the gang tries to cope and recover the next morning. Angel is bitter after seeing Connor and Cordy in bed together during the firestorm. Fred returns to the hotel to make up with Gunn. Wes breaks it off with Lilah. Connor heads to Wolfram & Hart to figure out exactly what is going on. But the big bad shows up and starts laying waste to all the employees. Locked inside with the beast, the gang must figure out how to rescue Connor. All the WR&H employees turn into zombies, including a now killed Gavin. The gang and Connor escape through the White Room where the demon has killed the small girl that resides there, but not before she transports them back to the hotel. The gang calculates its next move. Angel kicks out Cordy and his son out of anger for what he's witnessed.

What an odd follow-up to last episode. It felt last episode like the world was coming to an end and everything was over. We cut to the next morning as if it's just another normal day in LA. What an awful episode to episode transition. The episode itself isn't as problematic. The death of Gavin is semi-important as he's a semi-regular character but doesn't have a real story arc going on. Lilah fleeing the law firm and apparently going under the radar is reminiscent of Lindsey a bit.

Besides Gavin dying, this episode felt like we were stalling and sitting in place for a showdown with the big bad.
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5/10
Bicker bicker bicker
cleo-453769 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The teenage style bickering shows the writers really got lazy with the script on this episode, relying (yet again) on the action scenes to move the plot along. Gun's sniping at Wes is really irritating and childish. Angel's sniping at Cordy is unnecessary and childish. The 'big bad' is yet another unkillable dude in makeup. This era of Conner-Angel is really depressing as the characters are 99% miserable and one I usually skip. Especially if, like me, you remember all of Buffy. If Angel has an eidetic memory, why can he not recall the time Buffy used an Army weapon to blow up her unkillable big bad, rather than continuing to use his sword collection that hasn't worked on the last 2 tries, but hey, let's give it another go? In Buffy the team would have used the watchers knowledge, acquired better weapons, & got the job done with at least a few funny lines. Angel has the Wish version of the scooby gang, & their ineptitude and childish nature is grating. Skip to the next season.
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