Ep 4. I Fall To Pieces

Angel faces a puzzling task in the fourth episode of season 1, "I Fall To Pieces." A wealthy man named James is tormented by a monster. An investigator Angel hires to look into James' problem falls prey to the monster. In addition, the monster appears to be transferring its presence onto James' whole body, turning him into a monster.

Angel discovers that the monster is not after James at all, but a burlesque dancer at a nightclub where James has been going. Angel also realizes that the monster is actually a womanizing man who has gained the power to assimilate his victims who are women into his body after being rejected by the womanizer who James was modeled after.

Angel, Cordelia, and Doyle find a woman named Tina who is targeted by the monster at the nightclub, but she manages to escape. Meanwhile, James' assistant, Judy, discovers that she is in love with him, even if she is unaware of it herself. The group eventually discovers that the monster has the ability to hide within hardened wax and can assume any shape it desires. Angel and the gang head to an art supply store to buy some wax to use as a weapon against the creature.

Finally, after a tense confrontation, the group manages to subdue the monster with the wax and rescues James and the other victims. James is grateful and finally asks out his assistant, Judy, where she has been harboring feelings for him. Angel takes comfort in the fact that not all of his clients have gone astray, and that he was able to rescue James from his own monster defenses.

The episode touches on themes of objectification of women and rejection, as well as the capacity for humans to become monsters under certain circumstances. Its plot is rooted in the classic horror trope of the monster embodying the sins of a particular individual, and the wax motif serves to heighten the horror and grotesqueness of the creature.

Overall, "I Fall To Pieces" is an engaging episode of Angel, blending horror, romance, and suspense in an intriguing way.