Summary

• The original second episode of Angel was considered too dark and unsettling to air on television.
• The episode titled "Corrupt" featured missing sex workers and a cult of traffickers who turned them into monsters.
• The script was rewritten and became the episode "Lonely Heart," changing the story's themes and removing the dark content.

The original second episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel ran on The WB from 1999-2004. The series followed the titular vampire with a soul (David Boreanaz) as he left both Sunnydale and his true love behind. Angel headed to Los Angeles, becoming a paranormal private investigator and forming a Scooby Gang of his own. Several Buffy characters accompanied him, most notably Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter) and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (Alexis Denisof), though Spike (James Marsters) also ed the cast in Angel’s final season.

Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel used powerful metaphors to explore complex real-world issues, though the spin-off was darker in tone than its parent show—at least until Buffy season 6. Considering the series centers on Angel, who is spending the rest of his eternal life atoning for his multitude of past sins, it was always going to be steeped in darkness. That being said, the show’s beginnings were almost much more disturbing. Season 1, episode 2, “Lonely Heart”, was written because the first script was deemed too unsettling.

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'Corrupt' Dealt With A Cult Of Sex Traffickers

The Episode Still Introduced Detective Kate Lockley

The first at Angel’s second episode was called “Corrupt”, and was written by Buffy the Vampire Slayer scribe, David Fury, who also penned “Lonely Heart”. Like the episode that actually aired, it featured the introduction of Detective Kate Lockley (Elisabeth Röhm), but she wasn't exactly the same character. The focus of the original story was on missing sex workers.

Not only does traffickers who were worshipping T'Purok the Corruptor. They were transforming the women into monstrous creatures who killed their johns before tearing themselves apart as well.

'Corrupt' Was Considered Too Dark For The Series

Production Was Halted To Re-Write The Episode

The WB balked at the script, which they felt was too dark, and production on Angel was shut down mere days before shooting was meant to begin. The episode was completely rewritten as “Lonely Heart”, which replaced sex workers with forlorn bar patrons and T’Purok—a powerful and corrosive demon who grew like mold—with a burrower named Talamour. The general themes were altered, and Kate’s backstory would eventually reveal her anger was mired in issues with her father rather than any traumatic work experience.

Despite their drastically different stories, “Corrupt” and “Lonely Heart” share some things in common, such as Team Angel’s business cards with an unidentifiable angel on them. Aspects of the earlier draft were also split up into episodes over the course of the season, like Doyle’s gambling debts, an issue later expanded on in season 1, episode 5, "Rm w/a Vu”, and Cordelia’s idea for Angel’s ment, which appears in season 1, episode 9, “Hero”. Interestingly, Cordy knows Doyle is a demon in the script for “Corrupt”. This is something she didn't find out until he heroically sacrifices himself in “Hero”, which was the late Glenn Quinn’s final episode.

Perhaps nixing “Corrupt” was the right decision for Angel. The series always trafficked in darkness, but like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was primarily done using metaphor. It would’ve been a deep dive into some very complicated issues, which do deserve exploring, but had this installment aired, the overall tone of the show would likely have been impacted. It was only episode 2, after all. Honestly, “Lonely Heart” is one of season 1’s weaker offerings, so it can’t be argued that “Corrupt” was replaced with something superior. Angel fans will never really know what would’ve been better since all that exists is the first draft of an episode that was never made.

Angel is available to stream on Hulu.