The Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV spin-off series, Angel, has an 88% positive audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but it has several plot holes that still bother audiences. Haunted by his violent past, Angel, the vampire with a soul, relocates to Los Angeles where he sets up a supernatural detective agency. Various Buffy characters appear in Angel, and he often finds that his past catches up with him in this way, despite his attempts to make amends. Angel has a darker tone than Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and one of the darkest storylines involves Angel’s son, Connor.
Connor is the son of the vampires Angel and Darla, and was raised by Holz, one of the Big Bads in Angel, in a dimension of Hell. He was an extremely unpopular character, and harbored a deep resentment towards Angel, who he sH๏τ with a taser in season 3, overpowering him. This scene would later reveal one of the plot holes in Angel. As a vampire, Angel was vulnerable to many weapons, including stakes and enchantments, but while the taser affected him, a different and more supernatural form of electricity did not.
Angel Is Affected By Connor’s Taser In Season 3, But Not Gwen’s Electricity In Season 4
Gwen’s Electricity Has An Unexpected Effect On Angel
In the episode “Tomorrow,” Connor tries to kill Angel using a taser. He takes Angel by surprise and overpowers him, partly through the taser and partly because Angel is reluctant to fight his son. This would suggest that Angel is vulnerable to electricity in general. However, season 4 of Angel reveals that this is not the case. Season 4 introduces the mutant Gwen, who uses her ability to manipulate electricity to attack Angel when the two are fighting over the Axis of Pythia. Unlike Connor’s taser, Gwen’s ability has a different effect on Angel.
This acted as a defibrillator for a few seconds during their fight, re-starting his heart.
As a vampire, Angel is technically ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, with a heart that does not beat. When Gwen and Angel fought in season 4, she tried to kill him using her electrical power by firing it at him with blows to the chest. When this did not work, she put her bare hands on his chest and shocked him again. This acted as a defibrillator for a few seconds during their fight, re-starting his heart, resulting in a shocked Angel sitting up and kissing her. While Gwen and Angel did not date, she became a series regular.
How Angel’s Electricity Plot Hole Could Be Explained
The Buffy Revival Could Close This Plot Hole
Tasers discharge a high voltage, incapacitating a person by activating their nervous systems, causing their muscles to involuntarily contract. As Angel is able to move like a regular person, it can be ᴀssumed that his muscles work and can be affected by a taser. Still, the electricity only worked when applied directly over his heart, so it could be a matter of location. Another explanation could be that Gwen’s powers are supernatural, like Angel, while Connor’s taser is not. The Buffyverse has many plot holes, and even Slayers don’t make sense, so this electricity may be another Buffyverse mystery.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer has quietly fixed plot holes before, in both the TV show and the comic books, which continue Buffy’s story. It has been confirmed that the upcoming Buffy revival will introduce new characters and storylines, but also feature at least one star from the original Buffy series. This leaves plenty of room for older storylines and plot holes to be addressed, and it is very possible that these could include weapons. The series is likely to feature electrical weapons, and when the Buffy revival is released, it could address this 23-year-old Angel plot hole.
