Hell Bound

Season 5, Episode 4, Aired
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Episode Summary

After a series of horrific visions, Spike realizes that he is being pulled away from the material world and into hell. Fred tries frantically to find a way to save him, but soon realizes that there is an outside force that is causing Spike's dimensional shifts. An entity residing in Wolfram & Hart itself.moreless
8.7
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Fan Episode Reviews (10)

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  • Scariest ep ever

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By joxerlives, Jan 22, 2012 Report Abuse
    HELLBOUND

    The Good;
    Great villain, some great Spike stuff and an all round great premise

    The Bad;
    ?

    Best line;
    Angel (to frozen in time Pavayne) "Don't worry I had them give you a window"

    Jeez, how did they get away with that?
    Gory as hell, how did this not get an 18 rating?

    Apocalypses: 5

    Angel Cliches
    In disguise; 8

    DB/JM get's his shirt off; 15, Naked Spike.

    Cheap Angel; 7

    Subverting the cliche; Gunn and Wes always assumed Spike was going to hell

    Fang Gang in bondage:
    Cordy: 5
    Angel: 14
    Wes: 7
    Gunn; 5
    Lorne; 5
    Fred; 3

    Fang gang knocked out:
    Cordy: 15
    Angel: 19
    Wes: 7
    Doyle; 1
    Gunn; 2
    Lorne; 6
    Groo; 1
    Connor; 1
    Faith; 1
    Fred; 3

    Kills;
    Cordy: 5 vamps, 3 demons
    Angel; 45 vamps, 60 and 1/2 demons, 5 zombies, 12 humans, one werewolf
    Doyle; 1 vamp
    Wes; 14 demons+5 vamps, 5 zombies, 2 humans
    Kate; 3 vamps
    Faith; 18 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans.
    Gunn; 11 vamps+ 13 demons, 5 zombies, 1 human.
    Groo; 1 demon
    Fred; 3 vamps+ 2 demon, 5 zombies
    Connor; 16 vamps, 5 zombies, 2 demons, Jasmine

    Fang Gang go evil:
    Cordy: 3
    Angel: 3
    Gunn; 1
    Wes; 1

    Alternate Fang Gang;
    Cordy: 4
    Angel: 11
    Fred; 2
    Wes; 1
    Gunn; 1
    Connor; 1

    Characters killed: poor Claire
    2256

    Recurring characters killed;
    9;

    Total number of Angel Investigations; 5, .
    Angel, Gunn, Fred, Lorne, Wes,

    Angel Investigations shot:
    Angel: 14
    Wes; 2

    Packing heat;
    Wes; 9
    Doyle; 1
    Angel; 4
    Gunn; 3
    Fred; 2

    Notches on Fang Gang bedpost:
    Cordy: 5 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast+Phantom Dennis+Groo+Connor plus possibly the Beast
    Angel: 5; Buffy, Darla and The Transcending Furies
    Wes; 3 definite; Virginia, the bleached blonde and Lilah, 1 possible, Justine
    Gunn; 2 Fred and Gwen.
    Fred; 1 Gunn
    Groo; 1Cordy

    Kinky dinky:
    Gunn likes Eve's lovely friend, Claire the mystic. Too bad she doesn't last long. Spike spies voyeuristically on Fred in the shower.

    Captain Subtext;
    Apparently Spike materialises beside Gunn in the toilet and makes remarks about his penis. What sort of remarks? Claire suggests that Fred and she hold hands if Fred is lonely. Pavayne describes Spike as a 'Little Nancy still crying for his mother', well he's got the last bit right as 'Lies My Parents Told Me Proved'.

    Know the face, different character; 5

    Parking garages;
    8,

    Guantanamo Bay;
    WR&H show some REAL inefinite detention

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

    Questions and observations;
    Of course the term Reaper is another supernatural series and he too sends souls to hell. Mercedes McNab guest-starred and at one point the devil goes 'Ooohhh Buffy' when handing Sam a stake to recapture an evil soul who thinks she's a vampire (because there are no vampires in the Reaperverse). Spike refers to the King's English as he's seen 2 Queens in his time (Victoria and Elizabeth 2nd) and 4 kings (Edward 7th, George 5th, Edward 8th, George 6th). Spike calls Angel 'Liam', he knows his backstory. Angel likes Spike's poems, did he continue to write AFTER he became a vampire? Spike suspects that it may be the First Evil tormenting him which seems logical. Spike also says he's been a ghost for months which gives us some timeframe. Love to have seen Lee or some of the other casualties from WR&H over the years as Reaper's puppets. In many ways I think they try to cast Fred as the team glamourpuss but she doesn't really cut the mustard in that regard, Amy Acker a beautiful woman but just doesn't compare to CC, Buffy, Faith etc. Very Christian idea of hell. Eve is actually quite heroic here. Very little Lorne, he's really sidelined this season even if he's now a regular. The fate of Pavayne is very reminiscent of the fate of the 'Family of Blood' in the Dr Who ep of the same name (possibly the best ep ever?), both it and Torchwood drawing a LOT from Buffy and Angel (Angel sunk to the bottom of the ocean by his son, Capt Jack buried alive by his brother). So what happens to Pavayne AFTER the fall of WR&H at the end of the season? When Pavayne says that 'There's hope for you yet boy' when Spike has the choice of being human or rescuing Fred does he mean good Spike or evil Spike? Presumably Fred told Spike about Angel's Manilow obsession?
    Marks out of 10; 9/10 very strong ep, great villain, truly creepy and excellent performance from JM
    moreless

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  • all about spike again

    7.0
    "Good"
    By AngelRocks, Jan 20, 2011 Report Abuse
    i hate spike but this episode was not that horrible even if i hate spike i kinda liked the episode. i like the blood and bad guys and liked the episode but it would have been better if spike died or something

    the best part of the episode is when that blond woman spits blod on fred that was hilarious and i like the bad guy i believe his name is payvayne like that. the episode was one of the season best but it was not as good as the first seasonsmoreless

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    1 4

  • Another episode about Spike? Shocking.

    8.8
    "Great"
    By TwistedConverse, Jan 20, 2011 Report Abuse
    Hell Bound is a great episode and one that I appreciate more and more every time I watch it. It's disturbing, dark and quite violent, the plot is good and the villain excellent. A very solid episode.

    The main point of this episode is addressing Spike's apparent pull towards hell. Throughout the last two episodes we see Spike disappearing more and more frequently and here it hits a new low. The phantoms that appear this episode are quite disturbing- the woman screaming "Hold me" in particular gave me the creeps. The hints towards the "Dark Soul" and the "Reaper" were also quite creepy and the scene where the mystic is killed is just... scary.

    The whole episode is frightening at times and I must say I really like Parvayne. He was a strong villain and his backstory was good but not overly long so it felt like it dragged. His whole speeches to Spike were quite weird and his end is good. Being locked in a room, unable to move, touch or feel anything for all eternity is worse than death and his eyes at the end said it all. I'm glad the Spike going to hell backstory is gone however- I found it quite tiresome and unneccesary. I understand they needed repurcussions of him coming back from the dead but it wasn't very interesting. I liked Fred here and her relationship with Spike is an interesting one. Fred is the only member of Team Angel Spike seems to interact with other than Angel himself, and this is why I feel he was better suited to Buffy. There he felt he had a place, whereas here he doesn't really. Lorne here was just disgracefully underused. It's such a shame that he was treated like this all season- given one or two lines an episode. It annoys me a lot, seeing as I love Lorne and this was really disappointing. He's such a great character and is shoved to the side too often this season.

    Hell Bound is a great episode that has some chills and creepy things. It's the best so far this season and resolves a minor plot point. Great episode but not amazing.moreless

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  • Hell Bound

    8.0
    "Great"
    By TrueTvWatcher, Dec 22, 2010 Report Abuse
    Hell Bound was a good episode of Angel. I enjoyed watching this episode and watching the story unfold. This episode was definitely a side step to the main plot, however there were some developments regarding Spike. I thought the story of this episode was good, there was character development and even a little action. I enjoyed the woman mystic who tried to help the gang figure out what was going on. I think it is very interesting that Fred is the only one out of the gang who think Spike is really worth saving as she see's a diffrent side to him. I really look forward to the next episode of Angel!!!!!moreless

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    0 0

  • Jeepers Reapers!

    8.2
    "Great"
    By lenzinoH20, Dec 28, 2007 Report Abuse
    Hell Bound-After a series of horrific visions, Spike realizes that he is being pulled away from the material world and into hell. Fred tries frantically to find a way to save him, but soon realizes that there is an outside force that is causing Spike's dimensional shifts. An entity residing in Wolfram & Hart itself.

    One of the creepiest and most disturbing episodes this series ever produced. But hey, this is Angel, if you can handle libs, heads...or pretty much any body part getting hacked to pieces, burnt up, sliced, shredded I think we all can handle an episode like this by now. Spike is back in the center as his continuing fading away gets extreme when a ghost named the Reaper wants to send him to hell. This episode has some really gruesome moments like the teaser with the disfigured man cuting his own fingers off and flashes of Spike with barbwire all over his body, piercing his skin so hard he shakes violently in pain. There's even nudity with a very baring back shot of Fred taking a shower and of course, more Spike nudity (if we didn't see enough of his birthday suit on Buffy!)But there was also some funny scenes like Spike and Angel talking about where they've been and where they are now, not to mention insults each other along the way:

    Angel: "What do they call your hair color again? Radioactive!"

    and

    Angel: "There was one thing I did like about you but never told anyone...I liked your poems."
    Spike: "...you like Barry Manilow."

    Simon Templeman, who played the Angel of Death on numerous ocassions on "Charmed", makes for a creepy villian as Pavayne, the Reaper. His monotone yet playful acting helped to make the Reaper distinct from other Angel villians. The climax is great with Spike getting some action and beating the crap out of The Reaper. Also, loved Fred throughout and how she came through to save the day end even if the machine didn't help Spike in the end. It's also shows some development that Spike and Fred are also becoming fast friends. All and All, "Hell Bound" has enough scares and luaghs that make for a great episode. Well this episode is underrated by most fans, it's one that stands out for me with it's very dark and sinister atmosphere.moreless

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    1 0
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • If you slow down the "visions" Pavayne is making Spike have, you can see images of Spikes head with barbed wire around it, a finger getting impaled with a needle beneath the nail, and other disturbing images that probably are meant to be a preview of what Spike could expect in hell. Edit
    • The sign in the lab shower room reads: WARNING These premises monitered by closed circuit TV. Edit
    • When Spike walks off of the elevator (after he says "haunted lift") you can see that the doors are still open, but when the camera angle changes to a closer view of Spike, the doors have already closed. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • This episode received a 4.4/6 in the overnight ratings Edit
    • This episode of Angel has an official "...graphic and disturbing violent images and partial nudity. Viewer Discretion Advised" warning in the trailer. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Spike: Never a fetching mad scientist about when you need one. Edit
    • Spike: Oh no. Haunted lift. Take a slice more to wet my knickers. Edit
    • Fred: How fast can I get 'em? Wesley: Half of these are antiquities of the rarest order. If I exploit every connection I've made over the last month as the new head of research and intelligence... 20 minutes. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Spike: You and me, together again. Hope and Crosby. Stills and Nash. Chico and the – Spike is here referring to a number of famous "teams". Actors Bob Hope and Bing Crosby starred together in many films. In a bit of wordplay, he then jumps from "Crosby" to singers Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, who were part of a trio called "Crosby, Stills, and Nash". As he is cut off, he is starting to say Chico and the Man which was a comedy series about two very different people who form an unlikely friendship. Edit
    • Spike: Oh, put your martyr away, Mahatma. Spike is refering to Mahatma Ghandi who was a major political and spiritual leader of India, and the Indian independence movement. Edit
    • Spike: Or playing "Casper" with one foot in the fryer. Casper the Friendly Ghost is the main character of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. Edit

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