Angel Hunt

SUMMARY

Outside the beach house, Kelly and Tiff are posing on the sand in awkward outfits while Kris’ stunt double is surfing. Soon a static-filled phonecall from Charlie informs Kris that there’s some kind of trouble and they all need to join him in Mexico right away. They all agree to this without question.

That night, Bosley’s at the office worrying about why none of the Angels can be reached – as is Charlie, who had called to conduct business as usual. Gasp!

Already in Mexico, the girls hire a boatman to take them out to the island which Charlie and “a woman” apparently were ferried to earlier. They disembark on the ominous Diablo Island – Tiffany slips him a $100 bill to wait while they look around. Just as they start climbing up the bluff, he ditches them with their guns and purses still on board, courtesy of Kris’ stupid suggestion.

Kris starts to realize it wasn’t really Charlie on the phone and blames herself for their situation. Despite it being noon, Kelly insists it’ll be dark in a couple of hours, and elects herself in charge of building a fire and fortress as the blondes buddy up to go exploring. Upon reaching the top of the bluff, they get spooked by wildlife sound effects and head down to huddle with Kelly, who is aimlessly wandering the beach and acting like she’s picking up driftwood. High above the beach, LQ Jones observes Kelly, who’s oblivious to the bioculared and smoking killer watching her from plain view.

Meanwhile, Bosley and Charlie get a call from Malcolm Case, a psycho murderer whom Charlie once sent to prison. He explains that he will hunt and kill one Angel per day until Charlie turns himself over, but will not reveal his location.

Tiffany eventually points out to a very alarmed Kris that – relax – the scary noises are only National Geographic footage of peacocks. On the way down, eagle-eye Welles spies a fresh cigarette butt in the sand, then rejoin a scared Kelly, who’d somehow interpreted the peacock noises as someone yelling for help. The Angels embrace again as LQ Jones continues to look on.

Tiffany: “Peacocks aren’t indigenous to this latitude.”

Tiffany launches into the peacock speech and begins sowing the seeds for the Most Dangerous Game set-up – all of the island’s animals appear to be brought here… by man. She then goes on about her college dreams of adventure, and then professes her love for her new co-workers, explaining that she considers them next to family, and that she’s afraid and would be unable to make it out of this terrifying nightmare alone. Kris and Kelly stare back in silence. End scene.

That night, they lounge around Kelly’s roaring bonfire made from soggy driftwood (yeah right, if Tiffany had her giant specs, she’d have lit that fire with the magnified rays of the sun in like two seconds). Although the island is well-lit by studio kliegs, the girls insist on gathering more wood for the fire, and come upon an old sign rotting in the sand which reads Diablo Island – Danger – Wild animal preserve.  ”Oh NOOO!”

Back at Charlie’s mansion, Case makes his follow up call and announces that one Angel will die today. Bosley seems to think the girls are more resourceful than the trained hunters/killers.

Case and his 2 henchmen track their Angelic quarry inland – meanwhile, our heroines, upon discovering a peaceful rock pond, become jubilant at the sight of fresh water. After only a sip, they’re startled at the sound of the hunters’ Jeep and head back into the brush. Unfortunately, Tiffany heads solo towards the armed bad guy, who rifle butts her in the face and sends her backwards into the water. Kris moves to help, only to be subdued by a none-too-alarmed Kelly, explaining that Tiff can’t be helped if they get caught, too. They flee, more concerned with preserving their own safety than Tiffany’s life.

Tiff’s killer remains in hot pursuit as they race through the woods while holding hands and moaning. Eventually they elude him and he radios Case to inform him of Tiffany’s death. Overhearing Case’s name, Kelly explains to a confused Kris that Charlie sent Case to prison years earlier for killing his family on safari or something. Kris believes Tiffany is long dead, but Kelly asserts that they should search for her (corpse) downriver.

Having done some homework, Bosley and Charlie charter a flight to Mexico immediately, but also learn of an Angel’s death when Case comes a’callin’ again. Bosley doesn’t believe it.

Meanwhile Tiffany wakes up in the riverbank alongside a calm and cooperative tiger, with whom she apparently can communicate ala Sheena. After nightfall, she secures a spot in a tall tree, high above the roaring sound effects of an angry leopard. Elsewhere, while posing and fashioning ropes out of jungle vines, Kelly and Kris lightheartedly bemoan the fact that they would have liked to have found Tiffany’s body. Oh well.

Come morning, drawing on Kris’ memory of Tarzan films, they set traps and tippy toe around the jungle until one of their snares causes a gigantic tree to fall down and kill a henchman. Yay!

Tiffany meets up with her would-be-killer and is returned, bound and gagged, to the shack. Perched outside upon a log in a prom pose, Kelly and Kris notice the radio antenna on the roof. Inside, Tiffany learns that Bosley and Charlie are rushing to the island, but that Case intends to kill them upon arrival. The cheerfully crazed villain then leaves her unsupervised.

Kelly lures the henchman toward a trap where Tarzan Kris swings on a vine and kicks him to death. The two veteran Angels are unable to pull the rifle from underneath his body, and are forced to flounce for their lives through the wilderness as Case himself gives chase. Luckily, they duck into the bushes just in time to see Tiffany’s tiger maul their villain to death. Whew.

Kelly and Kris reach the shack with the captive bad guy in tow. Apparently not very surprised or relieved to find her alive, Kelly begins untying Tiff’s wrists while Kris makes way for the radio and undramatically announces to Charlie that they’re okay. All three grab some binoculars and look after Charlie’s escaping boat, but are unable to see anything but his hat. “Oh, Charlie!”

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ACTION

Plenty of action, although it mostly consists of Kelly and Kris flailing across the same 10-foot frame in various directions. Tiffany runs her way right into her own opening credits, and even though she failed to chase down the boat, she still gets points for running so fast on sand wearing wedge heels. Kris(‘s stuntman) gets to do some tree-swinging Tarzan stunts.

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FASHION

The opening beach scene featuring assorted swim wear compensates for the lack of wardrobe changes in the rest of the hour, although you’re left wondering why Tiffany (or anyone) would ever wear a sweatshirt and bikini bottom combo. All three girls wear rather camouflage-unfriendly colors on the island – outfits that, if you were really serious about not being seen, you would probably remove immediately. (They’ve gotten naked for stupider reasons than this.) Still, their outfits remain clean and crisp throughout their 3+ days on the island.

Wardrobe Repeat
The same or identical red swimsuit turns up on Julie in Angels of the Deep. Kelly also re-uses her swimsuit in Island Angels.

Angel Hunt

Angels of the Deep

Angel Hunt

Island Angels

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TIMEFRAME

They’re on the island definitely 3, maybe up to 5 days, depending on how you want to interpret scenes which appear to be out of order. No one proofread this script. Here’s our best guess:

Day 1 – Surfing at Kris’ house (Kris says they’ll get to Diablo by morning)
Day 2 – Charlie calls Bosley at the office (he says they were teaching Tiffany to surf yesterday), Angels arrive on Diablo Island (although in nighttime and then daytime, these scenes are out of order)
Day 3 – Bosley talks to Charlie about having checked their homes (“Kris chartered the plane day before yesterday”). Angels sleep round the fire and talk like it’s their first night instead of second.
Day 4 - Case says first Angel will die today. Tiffany “killed” and Kris and Kelly make ropes by night
Day 5 – Kelly and Kris set trap – takedown

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CURIOSITIES

• Jaclyn appears to be wearing her wedding ring throughout the episode.

• Case is determined to kill people who are most important to Charlie… so out of the millions of people Charlie apparently knows, he’s closest to his investigative employees whom he’s never really met? That’s kind of sad and weird.

• Charlie’s still living in the mansion he claimed to have sold at the end of Target: Angels, after the girls learned its whereabouts.

• What is with the constant hugging all of a sudden? Give it a rest.

• Tiffany’s line about having wanted adventure in college definitely sounded like she was nostalgically referring to her actual college days. It seemed weird not to acknowledge that they ALL walked through her ivy-covered halls of academia last week in the previous episode, Angels on Campus.

• In the scene where the girls are preparing to climb the bluff, watch for an appearing and disappearing long stick-looking thing leaning against the rock face of Point Dume.

• The person or thing doubling for Tiffany waking up in the river is correctly dressed as Tiffany, but has dark hair.

• Tiffany apparently wrote the book on peacocks, but doesn’t know that leopards and tigers can climb trees?

• The footage of the tiger “obeying” Tiffany is played backwards to a painfully obvious degree.

• How did Kris and Kelly saw down and/or lift that giant tree trunk that they rigged to crush the pursuing bad guy?

• Why does Charlie ask which Angel was killed – would he have a preference? And later, why is he surprised to hear Tiffany is alive, if he didn’t know which one was supposed to be dead?

• These guys are pretty much the worst hunters ever. Kris and Kelly are never more than 30 feet ahead, wearing bright red, white and blue, constantly talking and jumping around, and they have no clue? The deadliest game indeed.

• Two Angels are unable to get a rifle because an unconscious guy is laying on top of it. Seriously? So Kris is smart enough to set all these complex traps and snares, but too dumb to think of rolling the guy over?

• Why do all three think it’s safe to leave the bad guy tied up alone in the shack?

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MINIMAL ORNITHOLOGY RESEARCH

Tiffany claims that peacocks aren’t indigenous to their latitude or hemisphere. Though she’s right about the hemisphere, the kind of peacocks she saw are indigenous to areas around India, which encompass all likely latitudes of the fictional Diablo Island.

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CHARLIE IS A JERK

Dubbed shouting “So long, Angels!” and laughing from the boat 1/2 mile away. He turns around and leaves them on the island, which still has a bad guy and various wild animals on it, so Bosley can make the whole trip again later to pick them up instead? Just pick them up, your stupid face isn’t that important. They just almost all got killed because of you anyway. Again. They couldn’t possibly be in more danger knowing what you look like.

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KRIS AND KELLY ARE JERKS

Tiffany gives them a sweet speech about how they’re as important as her own family, and how she’s scared, and they just stare at her. Then they see her get cold-cocked into the river and just run the other way. Not even one making a diversion while the other goes to help her? No? They spend the rest of the episode reminding each other she’s dead, but don’t come close to shedding a tear, just looking vaguely glum until the subject changes. Then when they find her alive after all, their reunion is pretty casual. Seems like Tiffany would have been a little irked that her “best friends” immediately left her for dead. No wonder she went back East.

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REPEAT OFFENDERS

Lloyd Bochner: Malcolm Case also played the assassin from Angels Belong in Heaven.

Series staple L.Q. Jones also played the exploded bad guy in Bullseye, the jerk dad in Angels in the Backfield, and the crazy dad in An Angel’s Trail.

Paul Stanley also directed Angel in Love, Angel Baby, Angel Come Home, and Angels Belong in Heaven.

Lee Sheldon also wrote Magic Fire, The Jade Trap, Haunted Angels, Rosemary, For Remembrance, and Three for the Money.

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ANGEL STATS

Turtlenecks:	0
Shots fired by Angels:	0
Shots fired at Angels:	1
Bad Guys Killed:	1 (Kelly and Kris)
Maulings Witnessed:	1

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TOWNSEND AGENCY COMMENTARY

HOLLY
Episode Rating:
A series classic! Angel Hunt is scary, exciting and surprising – surprising in that Kelly and Kris are shameful as friends and teammates. Very un-Angelic behavior. Aside from that, I really love the fact that Tiff gets to shine in this ep – she’s beautiful, sweet, resourceful, and super-intelligent. Too bad there weren’t more vehicles like this to help showcase the new Angel.

ANNA
Episode Rating:
Non-office episodes are always the most memorable, and this is about as non-office as it gets. I can’t bring myself to give it the whole 5 stars due to the unforgivable behavior from Kelly and Kris, who are normally your two nicest and most sensitive Angels. It’s one of the most unique and fun episodes ever, but Angel interaction is important, and I just can’t get over these two leaving Tiffany for dead, or their overall lukewarm reaction to her apparent murder. “I wish we could have found her body.” This is real dialogue? Really? Really? Kris, you cry over everything, but witnessing Tiffany’s murder doesn’t make the cut? Kelly, aren’t you supposed to be “the sweet one”?

GREG
Episode Rating:
Hey, this is more like it. The Angels finally acknowledge Tiffany as a human being, not to mention new team member. On the downside she gets gun butted to the jaw losing yet another fight but on the bright side Kris gets to swing from a tree like Tarzan and there are tigers!

JO
Episode Rating:
Kris teaches Tiffany to surf. Whoa! Phone rings and Kris picks it up, but since her mind is full of surfing instructions, she forgets her detecting and buys that the voice on the other side is Charlie, in trouble, on an island, somewhere far, Bosley isn’t around for them to talk to, and they have to go save Charlie, like, NOW!!!

Once on the (deserted) island, the Angels quickly realize they’re bait in a plot against their boss and must simultaneously fight for survival against the inhabitants on this animal preserve (lions, and tigers, and peacocks), along with the humans sent to hunt them down as game.

I give this episode credit for trying something really different. It’s a setup that could have gone badly, but doesn’t. Seeing the Angels helping each other always works, and it being outdoors presents new situations for them to fall into. The timing, one-liners, and little action adventure moments really work. My favorite parts are seeing Kris swinging though the air ala Tarzan, and yes, Tiffany’s infamous ‘peacocks are not indigenous to this latitude’ quip.

BROLLY
Episode Rating:
The episode where Tiffany is finally allowed to gain profile. An entertaining romp overall.

JOSHUA
Episode Rating:
In my personal opinion this episode is the Angels in Chains of Season 4. The Angels are trapped on an island – personally I love when television characters get trapped on an island. I always hope one of the cast mates of Gilligan’s Island is going to make a surprise cameo – this episode involves lions, tigers, and bears, oh my. Maybe not the lions and bears but it does feature a tiger and a peacock.

By now the audience has gotten to know Tiffany a bit. We see the Angels with seniority have warmed up to Tiff and vice versa. Evident by Kris’ immediate reaction of trying to dash to aid Tiff, who is in a brawl with the gunman, only to be stopped by Kelly. As well as the speech from Tiffany on how she loves them like family. Yet again, the Angels miss another chance to see Charlie. One would think after three and a half years of this cat and mouse game one of those girls could have gotten a glimpse. After writing all of this I give this episode just shy of a 5 with 4.5 stars.