Our story begins with Ninja Kate nabbing a guy named Spivey, who I think we can safely assume is a criminal of some sort. Kate knocks him down and complains, "You stood me up. You were going to come to the station and answer a few questions, remember?" He says he forgot, so Kate slams him against the car and cuffs him. She says, "You have the right to remain silent, but I wouldn't recommend it." Grrr. I bet Kate watches a lot of Dirty Harry movies. At the station, Kate shows Spivey some photos and he identifies the Central Casting mobster type in them as Little Tony Papazian, who has apparently vanished. ["From the bad-ass Greek Mafia? Whatever!" -- Wing Chun Ariano] "So you haven't seen him since the day this picture was taken?" Kate asks. "The day County Supervisor Caffrey was found murdered?" Spivey claims Caffrey's death was a suicide. Kate seems unconvinced, and mentions that Caffrey was shot in the back of the head, wrapped in plastic, and locked in the trunk of his car. We pan out of the box to some other detectives watching the interrogation. Spivey says he's not going to answer Kate's questions. She tells him to look at the pictures again. "Bite me," he responds. Kate shoves him against a wall and says, "Where is he?" The captioning has her saying, "You don't want to tell me? I'll make it so you can't." I don't know why they changed that, unless they decided that the LAPD has a bad enough reputation as is. The other cops race in, and the Jeremy Piven impersonator among them pulls Kate off of Spivey and out of the room. Cupid tells her that they don't know anyone who can find Little Tony. Oh, but I think we do.
And right now he's down in the sewers, battling something with a lot of big green tentacles. As Angel is knocked to and fro, Doyle and Cordy race up. "It's about time!" says Angel. Doyle says, "Not a lot of enchanted swordsmiths open on Sunday," and tosses a sword to Angel. Well, he has a point, I guess. Angel hacks off a tentacle and then stabs up, where we can see a lot of green skin through a hole in the ceiling. There's a demon death-wail as goo pours down. Angel says, "Make sure to cut off all the limbs and both heads this time. Remember to bury the parts separately. I don't want this thing coming back to life again." Heh. Angel strolls away, saying he's going to go "clean out the nest." Cordy complains, "Am I wrong in thinking that a 'please' and 'thank you' is [sic] generally considered good form when requesting a dismemberment?" While Cordy continues to complain about Angel's thoughtlessness, behind her a tentacle suddenly whips up around Doyle's neck. While Doyle gasps and struggles, she concludes, "He ignores the people that are closest to him, the people who matter the most, y'know? Can you say 'clueless'?"
During the credits, the audience is in an agony of suspense, wondering if Doyle will be killed before Cordy notices he needs help. We can only hope.
Alas, no. Cordy and Doyle, considerably gooier than they were, walk into the office. Angel immediately starts with, "Cordelia, you need to --" "No!" says Cordy. "I don't care what horrible thing's about to happen. Asteroids are hurtling toward earth. Unspeakable evil is rising in the San Fernando Valley. Jar Jar is getting his own talk show. Whatever. I don't want to hear about it. Not until you ask us how it went." Angel tells Cordy that her mother called, and Cordy should call her back. "Now, what are you talking about?" he asks. Cordy reminds Angel that he left them to deal with the squid-thing in the sewer, and Angel says that since they both returned safely, he assumes it went okay. Cordy says that's not the point, and Angel says, "So there is a point?" Doyle clarifies, "She thinks you're insensitive, and not to bring up the irony, but consider the source." Cordy glares. Angel says that just because he's reserved doesn't mean he doesn't care. Just then Kate enters and asks if Angel has a minute. Angel and Kate go into his office and shut the door. "Mr. and Mrs. Spock need to mind-meld now," comments Cordy. Heh, except I don't think Cordy's ever really met Kate before. Kate tells Angel about Little Tony. He offers to see what he can do, and Kate says she'll pay him for any help. Angel points out that he owes her favors but Kate insists, "This isn't a favor. It's a job, that's how we do it." She then tells him to contact her directly if she finds anything, and Angel asks, "You don't want to get a reputation for going outside the department?" "I don't want to get a reputation for getting you killed," she answers.
Cordelia blipverts through some files while Doyle mans the computer, where apparently he can pull up all kinds of information on Little Tony's hangouts and buddies. Sure. Angel enters, and attempts to make peace with Cordy. He rather insincerely tells her, "I wanted to, you know, thank you so much for going through those coroner reports, because I can imagine how not fun it is to read about, you know, coroner stuff." "Lame," Cordy points out. Doyle shrugs sympathetically. Angel gives up, and asks her, "What have you got?" "The weebies," she answers. Wasn't that a children's animated show? She says that there have been body parts washing up on the coast, which presumably are Little Tony's work and not just random medical waste. Angel asks Doyle to pull up tidal flow charts, to try and determine if all the bodies could have been dumped into the sea at the same location.
Kate runs into her dad at the station. Her dad's also a cop, and about to retire. Kate mentions that she's been asked to speak at his retirement party. He tells her not to go to any trouble. The plaintive flute informs us that perhaps relations are strained between them, and we speculate that Kate may have become a cop to try and win her father's approval and, dare we say it, love. Yawn. Angel phones her from a pier, telling her he's found Little Tony's hideaway. He watches Little Tony himself, who is far from little, standing on the pier with some gunsels. Angel can see them clearly using a video camera with night-vision. At least he doesn't have some Batman night goggles or anything, so I can accept that. Kate says she's on the way, tells Angel to leave, and hangs up. Angel notices a boat heading for the pier and curses.
“ The goodfellas tell Angel to leave, so Angel makes with the senseless violence and knocks them down. ”
Little Tony instructs his companions to take care of his plants while he's gone. Suddenly Angel is standing to them, wearing a bright red Hawaiian shirt and a white Panama hat. Which I guess he had in his car, just in case. "Hi!" squeaks Angel, introducing himself as Herb Sanders from Baltimore. One of the goodfellas tells Angel that he's in the wrong place, but Angel points to the approaching ship, asking, "That's not the boat to Catalina?" The goodfellas tell Angel to leave, so Angel makes with the senseless violence and knocks them down. "It was the hat, wasn't it? I knew the hat was too much," Angel says. Don't quip, Angel. Sirens, lights, cops. Kate jumps out of a car with her gun out and says, "Hi Tony." As Little Tony is loaded into a police car, Kate approaches Angel and starts yelling at him for getting involved instead of leaving as she asked. Angel says Little Tony was about to get away. Kate says, "So you decided to dress like a road flare and put my ass and yours on the line?" While Angel tries to think of a response to that, Kate gets into her car and drives off. Little Tony glares at Angel from the car. Two weeks from now, I'll bet Angel thinks of a really snappy comeback for Kate.
At the station, Little Tony leeringly tells Kate that if he'd known how bad she wanted him, he'd have let her catch him sooner. Kate responds, "If I'd known how badly you needed the exercise, I might have let you run a little longer." Ho hum, blipvert. Little Tony contacts the Evil Lawyers of Doom at Wolfram & Hart. The rather young-looking lawyer pulls out a fax with information about Kate on it and says he'll take care of the problem. Moments later, lawyer-boy submits a petition to have Little Tony moved to a different precinct "for his own safety." The lawyer mentions the "unknown assailant" they believe was working with Kate. Kate tells her lieutenant she doesn't know who the other person was. Little Tony says he saw Kate talking to him. Kate cleverly tries to change the subject, asking "Was that before or after you murdered Supervisor Caffrey, you fat piece of --" before the lawyer cuts her off. The lawyer threatens them some more, saying that the public will be given a view of "the brutality and callousness of this police force that will make Mark Fuhrman look like Gentle Ben." That's O.J. reference number four, if you're keeping score. Also: "Gentle Ben"? Memo to WB: Keep the pop culture references to shows that aired within your target audience's lifetime.
Cordy babbles about how nice it was to have "a simple crime-lord case," while Angel pours himself a cup of coffee to brood over. "Wait. You've got pensive-face," she says, getting up from behind the desk. Angel says that he always has pensive-face, so Cordy amends her statement to "pensiver-face." Angel says that he's still worried about Little Tony, and that he has a bad feeling about the situation, while Cordy slides her feet around on the floor. Cordy finally says, "I just find it endlessly fascinating how your instincts are so highly attuned when it comes to boring old evil, but you have yet to make any mention of these new shoes." Angel stammers, "Look, Cordelia, women's shoes...men..." Just then Doyle enters and immediately remarks, "Great shoes! New?" Cordy whaps Angel on the shoulder. Doyle, desperate to prove that he does serve some purpose on this show, tells them that, according to one of his sources, Little Tony is planning something. Angel asks for more information, but that's all Doyle knows. "I thought he might be planning something," nods Angel. "See? You were right," says Doyle.
At a bar, not D'Oblique, Kate gets kudos for her collar of Little Tony. She sees her dad, and goes to join him. He congratulates her, adding, "Here's hoping the bust doesn't fall apart before you finish filing the paperwork." I wonder if Kate feels hurt and rejected by his lack of support. You think? Cupid comes up and shows Kate a memo about some new mandatory sensitivity training for all the cops. "Think they'll make us hug?" Cupid asks. "I'm not hugging you, sweat-boy," Kate sighs. Sweat-boy? Kate's dad says, "In my day, we didn't need any damn sensitivity." Anyone picking up on a theme yet?
The day, Allen the chirpy therapist lectures a room full of cops. He pulls out a talking stick, saying, "It's our contract with each other. Whoever holds this has the freedom to express himself or herself freely, without judgment, within the confines of this room." Allen hands the stick to a burly cop named Heath. Allen delves into Heath's family history. To my disappointment, Allen does not say, "Describe to me, in single words, only the good things that come into your mind about your mother." However, he does ask if there's anything Heath always wanted to say to his mother. "Will you marry me?" suggests Kate from the back of the room. Allen offers the talking stick to Kate, and when she hesitates, asks her if she's afraid to try it. Allen tells her that fear turns to anger, and anger turns to inappropriate sarcasm. He neglects to mention that bad television leads to completely appropriate sarcasm.
Angel and Doyle question Doyle's source, who is working out on a Nordictrack while they talk. He says that he overheard some of Little Tony's men talking during his spinning class, and they said that "no stupid bitch is going to get the best of L.T." Angel turns to Doyle and asks, "You know what that means?" "I think it stands for Little Tony," offers Doyle. "It means he's going after Kate," explains Angel.
Kate is filling her coffee mug when Angel enters the station and tells her, "We need to talk." Kate agrees, "I know. I want to apologize for the other night." Angel says she doesn't need to, but Kate insists, "That's not what my sensitivity trainer says. I know, it's pretty goofball, right? Still, thanks for what you did." , Kate asks Angel to come to her dad's retirement party the night. Angel agrees to go, and Kate says, "Okay, that was easy, I'm relieved." Angel finally gets a chance to talk, and tells Kate that she could be in danger, and that Little Tony may have a contract out on her. "Wow, he's really acting out, isn't he?" Kate comments. Angel blinks, and Kate continues, "He must be in some kind of pain to have to strike out at others in that way." Angel asks if Kate's okay, and she says that she'll be back to her usual level of cynicism in no time. At an ominous house, Allen meets with the evil lawyer, who says, "We went to great effort and expense [sic] to get you into that precinct. Is it working?" Allen insists that it is, and says, "After tomorrow's session you'll see incredible results." Behind Allen we can see a spooky altar. "That makes me feel all warm inside," says the lawyer.
“ Angel suggests that Kate try picturing everyone in their underwear. Kate eyes Angel pointedly and says, 'Way ahead of you.' Ew! ”
The retirement party is in full swing at the bar. Kate tells Angel that she is scared, excited, and consumed with dread. Angel says he doubts Little Tony's men would try anything at the party. Kate is confused, and then says, "Oh, that death threat hanging overhead? No, I meant speaking in public." Angel suggests that she try picturing everyone in their underwear. Kate eyes Angel pointedly and says, "Way ahead of you." Ew! Angel looks bewildered, and I know I am. Kate walks up to her dad and introduces Angel. Angel congratulates Kate's dad on his retirement, but dad says, "All I did was live this long and not get shot." Kate asks her dad why he pretends that important things don't matter. Dad ignores her and asks Angel how long he's been dating Kate. Angel says, "We're, um, pretty new friends." Dad says, "Well, good to see her out with a man. I was starting to wonder if she didn't lean in the other direction altogether." Awkward pause. Kate sips her champagne. The lieutenant asks Kate to say a few words. Kate starts with the usual "end of an era" stuff, but then things take a less festive turn. Looking at her dad, she says, "After Mom died, you stopped, you know? It was like you couldn't stand the sight of me." Then we learn that apparently she's bitter because her dad didn't tell her that her mom had gone to heaven, or something. Kate bursts into tears and sobs, "You couldn't even tell a scared little girl a beautiful lie." Dad mutters, "What the hell'd they do to her in that class?" in order to give Angel a much-needed clue. Kate goes on to say, "Do you realize that you've never told me that I'm pretty. Not once in my life!" Cupid points at Kate and tells her to keep going. She concludes: "I can't campaign for the office of your beloved daughter. You closed your heart after Mom left us and that's it." "That was so damn brave," says Cupid. The lieutenant disagrees, saying that the party wasn't an appropriate place for these revelations. ["I'm with the lieutenant." -- Wing Chun] Nearby, a cop is crying while another rubs his shoulders and tells him, "Let it out, Dale." We overhear bits of other conversations, like "I'm passive-aggressive," and "I'm hearing a lot of denial." The lieutenant tells Cupid, "Your need for catharsis is not the issue here." "I'll give you catharsis," says Cupid, and lunges at the lieutenant. Angel pulls Cupid away, and dad drags the lieutenant out of the bar. Angel ignores all the other brawls breaking out and takes Kate out the back door.
Cordy enters the office, asking what the emergency is and complaining about the late hour. She gripes, "Why I ever thought it was a nifty idea to work for a vam --" and then sees Kate curled up in a chair. "--triloquist!" Cordy finishes. Good save. I guess. Angel hands Kate a mug of something while Kate looks up at him. "You have the most intense eyes. I see such an old soul," she sighs. "He gets that a lot," notes Doyle, lurking in a corner of the room. Kate points at Angel and asks, "You don't have an insincere bone in your body, do you?" Angel asks Kate about the sensitivity training. Kate asks if Angel wants to go to one of the sessions, and hands him the memo about it. Angel steps out of the room while Doyle gives Cordy some background. Kate wanders over to Cordy and Doyle and says in that sing-song way, "Someone's got a cru-ush." Cordy insists that she and Doyle "just joke around." Kate says, "Where is the truth? He's hiding behind Mr. Humor!" Kate directs Cordy to look at Doyle, and suggests, "Maybe you should try to open your heart to a new possibility!" Doyle says, "She's starting to make some sense," while Cordy calls, "Angel!" in a panicked tone. Angel returns with Allen's address, and tells Cordy and Doyle to keep an eye on Kate.