This week's episode opens with Angel in his office, reading a book that does not appear to contain pictures or conversations. What is the use of a book without pictures or conversations? Doyle enters, and asks if this is Angel's exciting plan for the evening. Angel says, "I get enough excitement," in his dullest of dull monotones. Doyle suggests other options, such as, "Two beautiful words: sports bar." Oh, Doyle: Go away. Doyle notes the presence of trivia games at said bars. Doyle: refer to message. Doyle complains, "I just can't sit around here while..." Cordy interrupts, "While I slip into the night with my incredibly-more-wealthy-than-you prince?" Cordy enters in a strapless black number, causing Doyle and Angel leap to their feet, which is on the borderline between gallant and suggestive. I think Cordy should be wearing a necklace or something, because in close-ups it looks like she's naked. Doyle tells Cordy that it takes more than money to be happy. Cordy demurs, as her date, Pierce, comes in to pick her up. As they start to leave Angel asks, "What's your hurry? You didn't even introduce us." It would have made a lot more sense if Doyle had said that, because what the hell does Angel care who Cordy's dating? Nevertheless, Doyle remains mostly silent as Angel asks what Pierce does, where they're going, and how late they'll be out. The answers are not interesting. Cordy and Pierce leave. Doyle picks up Angel's discarded book and observes that his chances with Cordy aren't good, since his family has no money, "Not to mention the fact that half of them are demons." As Doyle flips through the book, a picture of Buffy falls out. Doyle asks if this is an "old squeeze" of Angel's while the flute of failed romance tweets. Doyle figures out that the photo is of Buffy, just as one of his migraines of foreboding hits, providing him with a mystic vision of a guy chained up in a vampire den. Angel goes into rescue mode, and sets the atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed, while Doyle notes, "Everybody's got dinner plans but me."
The snippet in the credits with Spike makes me think about how unfair it is that they made him unable to feed right before Thanksgiving. Poor Spike.
Pierce and Cordy are at a restaurant. Pierce is a very dull guy.
Angel and Doyle have some vaguely Matrix-style shots of senseless violence as they battle the vamps and rescue their dinner. A vamp bonks Doyle over the head, causing his Play-Doh face (TM ejg) to appear, but Doyle shakes his head and returns to what I will call, for lack of a better term, "normal." After a blipvert, Angel asks Doyle "You're stronger when you're a demon, right? Why'd you shake it off?" Doyle says it isn't his style. Not tacky enough for him, I guess. Doyle's stronger when he's a demon? Does any aspect of Doyle's heritage make sense to anybody? Maybe his headaches are caused by the fact that his character doesn't make a bit of sense. Angel drags the hapless near-victim away while behind them we see that one of the vamps survived the melée, and looks a tad pissed.
Doyle heads back to the office with the vamp trailing him. The vamp's face apparently stuck that way just as your mom always warned you might happen. As Doyle enters the building, Cordy and Pierce pull up in Pierce's convertible. "Sorry you're not feeling well," says Pierce. He asks if Cordy wants him to take her home, but Cordy says, "My car's here." For once, the writers answer a reasonable question that the viewers might have. Cordy gets out of the car, and Pierce joins her, saying, "I'm not really sure about this neighborhood." The vamp pops up and says, "You're right. It's crappy." The vamp grabs Cordy as Pierce scrambles back to his car and drives off. Cordy screams. Doyle appears with a crossbow, and calls, "Hey! I'm the one you followed here. It's me you want." The vamp and Cordy struggle, and Doyle, unable to get a clear shot, settles for firing his arrow into the vamp's foot. Cordy is tossed aside, the vamp tackles Doyle. Cordy looks up in time to watch as Doyle struggles for the amazingly blood-free and unmarred arrow. Doyle finally grabs it and dusts the vamp. Cordy says, "ow," prompting Doyle to ask if she's okay. In the credit-where-it's-due department, he does look genuinely concerned about her and oblivious to his own aches and pains, and that's kind of sweet. Cordy says, "You were so...brave," in an astonished tone. Doyle asks, "You think you could say that again without so much shock in your voice? You're kind of stepping on my moment of manliness here." Cordy apologizes and says, "I'm just..." "Surprised?" offers Doyle? "Old?" I suggest. Cordy settles for, "Grateful." The concept of Cordy expressing gratitude causes the world to tremble. No, wait. It's just another blipvert.
The day Cordy enthralls Angel with the details of her evening. Assuming that Angel always looks over random paperwork when he's enthralled. Cordy explains that "All of a sudden rich and handsome isn't enough for me. Now I expect a guy to be all brave and interesting." Hey, Xander wasn't all that brave. Cordy notes that Doyle was more concerned about her than he was about himself, and Angel stops looking over paperwork and folds his hand together, so I think maybe the papers were his "How to be a sympathetic listener" crib sheets. Angel says, "There's definitely more to Doyle than meets the eye." Why do they keep making Transformer references? Cordy concludes, "So I've gotta kill myself. I swore when I went down this road with Xander Harris, I'd rather be dead than date a fixer-upper again." Angel looks a bit miffed that Cordy isn't following his own ideals and choosing romantic partners based on personality and integrity rather than mere appearance. Because Angel sure wasn't attracted to Buffy because she was a 98-pound blonde who wore slip-dresses year-round. Oh sorry, was I implying that the "looks aren't everything" message is aimed at women, and not men? My mistake. Cordy concludes that she should buy Doyle a mochaccino as thanks for saving her life. Instructing Angel to watch the phones, she leaves.
Doyle is reenacting his moment of triumph when Cordy walks in behind him. She eavesdrops as Doyle tries out lines like "Fangs for the memories," which probably took him all night to think up. He finally realizes Cordy is watching and is properly embarrassed. Cordy tells Doyle that perhaps she's been unfair, and adds, "Maybe you don't actually have zero potential." Doyle is underwhelmed, and as Cordy tries to be a tad nicer the door behind Doyle opens and a Sarah Jessica Parker clone enters. Doyle turns, Sarah says, "Hey, Francis," and the piano of long-lost love tinkles a melody very similar to the one the flute of failed romance piped earlier. "Harry," says Doyle, stunned. "Francis?" asks Cordy, confused. Doyle clarifies that his full name is Allan Francis Doyle. So they're Harry and Francis. Apparently Kevin Williamson has convinced the entire world that we love gender-bending names. ["Who's that on the phone? It's Amanda Peet and Ivan Sergei, and they're pissed that Angel ripped off their show's central conceit." -- Wing Chun] By the way, Doyle is wearing a necklace -- a Celtic cross which has the power to magically pop in and out of his shirt, a continuity error I only happened to notice because I was trying to figure out what it was. Doyle explains to Cordy, "This is Harry. [dramatic pause] My wife." Cordy's smile fades.
After the commercials, Harry apologizes for dropping in without warning. Doyle asks if she thought he would have run off if she'd called ahead, adding, "That's not my style, remember?" Harry asks, "Do you want me to remind you who fired the starter pistol?" Before this escalates any further, Harry suggests she and Doyle should "just hug, and be happy to see each other." They do so while Cordy shakes her head. Harry asks if Doyle is still "living it up," and says, "that drinking's no good for you." The awkward conversation continues when Angel enters to inject some much-needed vitality into the group. If only he had any. Cordy snaps, "Angel, come meet Doyle's wife." Angel shakes Harry's hand. When Harry admires the offices, Doyle explains that he runs the firm and Angel and Cordy work for him. Cordy starts to protest, so Angel whaps her on the back with his elbow. Cordy asks if the marriage was a "green card thing." Harry says no: "It was a madly-in-love, couldn't-live-without-each-other kind of thing. But I guess times change, 'cause here we are four years later, living just fine." Doyle asks why Harry's there, and Harry asks if they can talk alone. Then the door opens again, and this time it's John-Boy Walton. Or his mole, attached to some other guy. "I thought you were gonna stay in the car," says Harry. The mole says that his curiosity got the better of him, and introduces himself as Richard Straley, shaking Angel's hand. Turning to Harry, he says, "You left out the part about him [sic] being such a handsome fellow." Angel says, "I'm not --" which I hasten to agree with. "No, you are, really," chuckles Richard. No, he's really, truly not. Angel explains, "I'm not Doyle." Richard gets a clue, looks at Doyle and says, "Oh, that's more like it." Doyle rolls his eyes, Richard tries to backpedal, Harry tells Richard to shake Doyle's hand.
Richard explains he's not himself, "what with the wedding only a few days off now." Embarrassed pause as we watch the other shoe clunk to the floor. Richard says, "I wasn't supposed to say that yet, was I?" Cordy takes a seat on the couch and asks Richard to go on as she grins. I think they're making Cordy's switch from barely tolerating Doyle to being jealous of his wife just a tad too rapid. Angel manages to pry Cordy out of the room, claiming that they need to work on some reports. As they leave, Harry says, "Hun-bun," causing me to vomit, "I think I should handle this from here." Exit the mole. Doyle asks indignantly, "You're marrying that guy?" Harry says that she's definitely "the yin to his yang, but it works. He's got a good heart, Francis. Just like you." I think that one should not make any comparison between the current husband and the future husband, even if it's favorable. Doyle says, "Maybe, but the container? Can I get a side of bland with that bland?" He asks again why Harry came to see him. "To see my face when I found out? To see if it cut?" he whines. Harry says absolutely not, and then explains that she just needs Doyle to sign the divorce papers. Doyle takes them, but says he wants to have some time to look them over, "just to make sure I'm not buying an ostrich farm." Harry agrees, and says she'll be back in a few days. Harry turns and leaves, telling Doyle it was good to see him again.
Angel finishes pouring one glass of scotch and starts to pour a second, but Doyle covers his glass before Angel can start to fill it. "Harry's right," he explains. "This stuff does me no good." Angel sits down. I wonder if Angel was really going to drink with Doyle. As it is, Angel is left to toy with his glass, never even sipping from it, which is a bit of a waste. Especially when he has such a good motive to drink, in the form of Doyle blathering on about his failed marriage. Doyle says, "We weren't even twenty when we got married. Crazy about each other. You know, when things go wrong and you're young like that, you don't just say hey, thanks for the blender, I wish you well. You fight. You tear each other apart until one of you can't take it." Angel looks like he might be thinking, "Or you kill her Computer Science teacher and she sends you to hell." Doyle says, "She did the walking, but she had reason. I wasn't exactly the man she married. I changed." Angel tells Doyle that's only natural, since they were married so young. Doyle responds, "What, to sneeze and sprout demon face? That's decidedly unnatural." Angel is surprised that Doyle didn't mention that he was a demon to his wife-to-be, but Doyle says that he didn't know about it at the time. "I never met my dad," Doyle begins, and despite the threat of hearing all about Doyle's childhood, Angel still doesn't touch his scotch. The man's a masochist. Basically, Doyle's mom kept his supernatural bloodline a secret, hoping that it wouldn't affect him. And it didn't, until his demonic side manifested when he was twenty-one, and thus ended Doyle's hopes of having his own children. Angel tells Doyle, "I'm sorry," prompting Doyle to gruffly end the pity party and say that it was all for the best, since he's "too much of a wild man to be the stay-at-home type, anyway." Doyle observes that Richard seems like a decent guy. "Definitely friendly," agrees Angel. Then Angel makes the terrible mistake of trying to comfort Doyle, and adds, "Only, he seemed a bit, uh..." As if he had a huge mole on his cheek? Doyle jumps up and shouts, "Exactly! I knew he was no good!" Soon enough, Doyle has made Angel agree to tail Richard and make sure he isn't, y'know, evil or anything. Angel makes one request: "Just don't tell Cordelia. She'll want to charge you." Doyle pats Angel's shoulder to distract him, and gulps down Angel's glass of blipvert.
Richard strolls along the dark streets. Apparently Los Angeles is a lot like Hazzard County, because no one looks up to see that wily Angel hops across rooftops in hot pursuit. Angel stops at the corner of one building, probably trying to figure out what the hell he's going to do if Richard moves to a different block. Luckily, instead of crossing the street, Richard approaches a suspicious car where he receives a package. , Richard enters "Straley's Steak House." Angel has descended to ground level in the meantime. In the kitchen, Richard places the parcel in the very back of the fridge. A blipvert informs us that time passes. Richard and Harry enter the kitchen. Harry is carrying a lot of packages and declaring, "You can't wait to see what I just bought," which is a rather odd thing to say. Then she asks, "How small do you think a nightie would have to be to fit into one of these tiny boxes?" Richard chortles in an icky way, and says, "Don't move! I'll be right back." Richard grabs a glass of wine, takes a sip, and then gets all red and lizardy. He pulls a knife out of a bin and approaches Harry, who is trying to open her purchases. Suddenly Angel crashes through the window from outside and tackles Harry. After a few punches, Harry grabs Angel and tells him to stop. "He's a demon!" cries Angel. Harry is not surprised, and comforts her lizardy fiancée. "He was coming at you, he had a knife!" Angel insists. Richard explains that the knife was for the boxes. Angel inquires about the mysterious package Richard picked up earlier. "You followed him?" asks Harry. Richard says, "That was for the restaurant. We serve a lot of delicacies. Frogs legs, quail tongues, and such, which isn't illegal per se..." Harry interrupts, insisting that Richard doesn't have to explain, which is a lucky thing for the writers. She looks at Angel and says, "Doyle put you up to this, right? Man, years go by, nothing changes. Doyle decides what I need..." Richard interrupts to suggest that Doyle, understandably, just wants to look out for Harry. Harry tells Angel that "Richard and his family own this restaurant. They're Ano-movic demons, a peaceful clan, totally assimilated into our culture." Richard says, "Harry's an ethno-demonologist." Is there much money in that? Harry and Richard tell Angel that they met while she was "scouting clans in North America." Harry explains that when Doyle's demon self appeared, she was upset at first. "But after I adjusted, I realized, here's this whole, rich, interesting world just waiting to be explored." "You didn't tell him that?" asks Angel. Harry says that she did, and that she encouraged Doyle to meet other demons, "at least go to one mixer, you know? But he couldn't accept himself. Or them. So then he was just... angry. And pretty much a bitch to live with." Angel gets that troubled face he has when he's trying to understand something. Like basic math.
Back at Angel's place, Doyle is shocked to hear that Harry is marrying a demon. "Tell me again how ugly he is," he demands. Angel is looking up Ano-movic demons in his handy encyclopedia of the supernatural. He skims, "Once a nomadic tribe...at one point they did have violent leanings..." Doyle says, "I knew that nice-guy routine was just an act. He's working a spell on her!" Angel continues, "But gave up those orthodox teachings, language, around the turn of the century. Now they own a number of restaurants with pretty expensive windows." Doyle says, "I fully intend to chip in on that." Angel looks dubious. Doyle explains that when Harry proposed how exciting it would be to explore Doyle's demonic heritage, "I thought she was just trying to make me feel better. I thought she was pitying me. But it was true. I just wasn't listening." Angel wonders if there's any scotch left, while Doyle is forced to accept that he can't blame his breakup with Harry on his demon half. Doyle pulls out the divorce papers and signs them. Harry and Richard thank Doyle as they pick up the papers. Harry asks if she can use a copier, and Doyle points her to Angel's office. Inside, Harry tells Cordy that Richard wanted a chance to invite Doyle to his bachelor party. Cordy asks if Richard is afraid he ordered too much beer. Harry says that Richard's family want Doyle to give his blessing, and that "they're sweet demons; they're very into good vibes all around." Cordy says, "They do sound nice," very sincerely, making me wonder if she's been possessed. Harry mentions that she's supposed to invite friends to her bridal shower, and that Cordy is "the first girl [she's] met in town under three hundred and seventy years old." Cordy giggles, because, of course, she is actually much, much older than that. Harry invites Cordy to the shower, and Cordy accepts. Outside, Richard is finishing his pitch for Doyle to attend the bachelor party.
In an average suburban homestead, Richard and the rest of the Walton family are gathered around the dinner table, discussing party plans. When Richard complains about having buffalo wings to eat, Dad says, "You're supposed to eat bad and drink beer." Mom enters with a bucket of KFC and says, "Don't forget the girl who does the striptease." Richard starts to protest that he doesn't want that kind of entertainment, but his two brothers insist that "It's your bachelor party, and we're going to have fun whether you like it or not." Richard hopes this won't make a bad impression on Doyle. Another woman, I'm guessing an aunt, asks who Doyle is. One of the brothers explains. Dad goes over the plan, "First we greet the man of the hour. Then we drink. Bring out the food, then drink. Then comes the stripper. Darts. And then we have the ritual eating of the first husband's brains. And then charades." Richard's brothers seem hesitant about charades, but Richard thinks it sounds good. I hope Doyle's brains aren't meant to be the main course, because the portions are going to be awfully small.
During the commercial, I think about how it would be funny to see Cordy in a story like Xander's in "The Zeppo," only to have her completely unaware that she was ever in danger or battling monsters at all. Wouldn't that be funny?
There are blipverts busting out all over as the bachelor party starts at the restaurant. Doyle enters, with Angel trailing him. Doyle is better dressed than usual, by which I mean that his clothes are not actually painful to look at. Richard rushes to give him a hug, and greets him as Francis. Doyle corrects him. As the guests notice Angel, Doyle says, "I asked him to come. I hope that's okay?" Richard stammers a bit and says it's fine, "Now the party can really start!" Angel blinks in enthusiastic response. While Richard escorts Doyle to the bar, the two brothers speak in demonese while staring at Angel. As Angel strolls by their table, one of the brothers winks at Angel. Okay, that was bizarre. Doyle and Richard drink a toast to Harry, and Richard demands that Doyle tell him all about Harry. At the shower, Harry is telling Cordy her version of her history with Doyle. Cordy is astonished to hear that Doyle "took charge." Cordy is more astonished to hear that Doyle taught third grade. She asks, "Are you sure he wasn't just held back and used that as a cover story?" Harry says, "Francis got his teaching credentials before we even met at the food bank." Cordy is momentarily relieved to hear that Doyle was in a food bank, but then realizes, "You're about to tell me he ran it, aren't you?" Harry says that Doyle was a volunteer, and that "that's where he got the idea for the whole 'We Are the World' thing." Cordy looks blank until Harry says, "I'm kidding about that part." The unnamed aunt calls Cordy and Harry over for pornographic pictionary. Harry notes, "Their ways are not our ways," as Cordy grimaces. Angel is a big wallflower while the party continues. He keeps making eyes at the two brothers at their table, but apparently neither of them will ask him to dance. Despondent, he imagines a blipvert. Richard and Doyle keep drinking at the bar. Richard tells Doyle that Harry will always love him, but that "she needs different things now. I know I can make her happy, but I need you to be a part of it." Richard asks Doyle for his blessing, and says "without it, there won't be any marriage." Some random guests drag Richard away to watch the stripper. If Doyle were a real Irishman, he wouldn't be drinking beer you can see through. Angel wanders over and asks Doyle if he's okay, because he hasn't heard enough about Doyle's feelings lately. They both turn to watch the very definition of a tacky stripper. Angel notices the brothers are heading into the kitchen area, and follows them, I guess thinking this is his big chance to score.
Angel strolls through the kitchen and upstairs. He overhears Richard's dad chanting, "Ino platbrata iko iko..." Angel joins in for a rousing chorus, "My flagboy says to your flagboy, I'm gonna set your flag on fire!" Not really. Actually, he just peers through a door and watches as dad slices across his palm with a very pointy knife. The blood drips into a bowl, the contents of which burst into flames. Angel calls Cordy on her cell phone and asks to talk to Harry. Harry takes the phone, and Angel asks her to translate the spell he just overheard. Harry says she'll try to check the family library. Angel thanks her and hangs up. As he turns, he crashes into one of the brothers. The brother asks, "Are you disrespecting me?" "No," says Angel. "So now I'm a liar?" asks the brother, and punches Angel. Blows are exchanged. Several more guys join the fight. We cut between the battle and the stripper, in a failed attempt to build dramatic tension of any sort. Angel, whom we've seen stand off considerable groups of vampires, is unable to defend himself against the four average Joes who end up tossing him through a window. Angel lies on the ground, unconscious. The stripper leaves, and Richard tells Doyle, "I hope Harry doesn't hear about that." Doyle says he won't tell. Richard calls Doyle "a good half-man." Richard asks Doyle about the blessing, and Doyle says, "I've had a lot to regret in my life, but nothing more than the way things went with Harry and me." Long story short, Doyle gives Richard his blessing. Richard moves to embrace Doyle, causing Doyle to add, "As long as we skip the hug thing!" Richard chuckles and shouts for everyone's attention. He announces that Doyle has given his blessing. Everyone cheers and toasts Doyle. The crowd gathers around Doyle while he shouts, "No hugs now! We have an understanding!" At long last, I empathize a tiny bit with Doyle. The crowd backs Doyle up and closes up a box around him so that only his head sticks out at the top. Doyle complains that he can't reach the pretzels. Richard thanks Doyle for his sacrifice, and then he, his dad, and his brothers, go all red and lizardy. "Okay, this can't be good," says Doyle, as Dad sneaks up and injects something into Doyle's temple. Doyle complains, then suddenly looks despondent and says, "My head's going numb." Thousands of viewers shout, "How can you tell?" Richard says, "We wouldn't want you to suffer when we cut into your skull" as a lobster bib is tied around his neck. Just a little tiny chuckle from me at the lobster bib.
At the shower, Harry insists "This can't be right." She has translated the spell and discovers that it says "something about ingesting past love." Harry turns to the rest of the guest and says, "Richard said having the former husband present was some sort of tradition. I was just wondering --" The still-unnamed aunt interjects, "Well, they're certainly not going to eat your ex-husband's brains!" Mom clears her throat. Cordy and Harry run out of the room.
Angel is still napping while Dad draws a dotted line on Doyle's forehead. As Richard insists to Doyle that Harry will understand, one of the brothers places a shrimp fork on the box enclosing Doyle. Dad picks it up and asks, "He's going to eat the guy's brains with a shrimp fork?" The brother responds indignantly, "Pardon me if our ancient ancestors didn't leave behind any former-husband brain-eating forks!" Dad suggests that a soup spoon would be more appropriate. Richard apologizes to Doyle, saying, "We're a little fuzzy on the etiquette." Dad explains that "The accursed books tell us all very plainly that ingesting a priorly [sic] married prospective bride's former primary mate's fresh brains will ensure a happy second marriage. This way Richie can incorporate all the love that you and Harry shared, making their union whole. It's an Ano-movic thing -- don't ask." Props to the actor who had to recite all that with a straight face. Well, under the makeup. Doyle suggests to Richard, "Why don't I just give you that hug and we can call it even." Richard is hurt that Doyle might be backing out after giving his blessing. "Now I'm not so sure I even want to eat your brains," says Richard. Dad says, "Don't be petulant, Richard. You'll eat his brains. He can't take back a blessing. Now apologize to your friend." Richard reconsiders, and tells Doyle, "I'd be honored to eat your brains."
Angel finally wakes up, and vamps out. Richard prepares to make an incision as Angel bursts through the front door. One of the brothers says to Doyle, "You brought a vampire to my brother's bachelor party?" Angel has no problem battling a dozen guests now that he's got his plastic eyebrows on. Does this mean that, like Doyle, Angel is stronger when he's a demon? But he's never a demon, because he has a soul! Or he's always a demon, but he has a soul. Or do all demons have souls? Please, won't someone set up guidelines for the writers? While the battle ensues, the Doyle-in-the-box is spun across the floor several times. I think this is meant to be comedic. The lock holding the box closed suddenly opens, and the camera pans up to show that Doyle has his Pinhead look. Doyle says, "Harry says I should mix with other demons? I'll mix!" and bursts out to join the melée. There is much punching and kicking. Now that Doyle is free, why don't he and Angel just get out of there? There's no one else there to rescue. I guess it's fun to smash up furniture.
Harry runs in shouting "Stop it!" Everyone does. Cordy runs in just then, and I feel obliged to note that her bellybutton is completely covered. I think that's a good look for her. Richard pokes his head up from behind a booth and tells Harry, "This is for guys only." Harry says she knows what Richard is up to. Richard claims, "The stripper wasn't my idea, pook, I swear!" Harry says, "Not the stripper, Richard...There was a stripper?" Richard repeats that Harry shouldn't be there. Cordy responds, "Well, you shouldn't be trying to eat my friend's brains, you horrible, ugly, demon-people!" Doyle, still all green and pointy, crawls out toward Cordy. Cordy grabs a large platter and bashes Doyle with it repeatedly until Angel runs up to intervene. While Angel distracts Cordy briefly, Doyle scrapes off the Play-Doh and walks up to Cordy. "Oh, look what they did to you," moans Cordy. Harry demands of Richard, "Were you, or were you not, intending to eat my ex-husband's brains?" "In a way," Richard allows. Harry asks when Richard planned to tell her about this, and Richard says he thought he wouldn't have to. "You were going to start our life out together [sic] with deceit?" Harry asks. "Sorta missing the point, isn't she?" asks Doyle. Richard says he was following the ancient teachings, and Harry asks "Since when does your family follow the ancient teachings?" Dad says, "We don't flaunt our beliefs, but they're very dear to us." "Oh please, Uncle John," says Harry. Great, so he wasn't Dad, he was Uncle John. Does anyone care? I don't. Anyway, Harry asks him, "When's the last time you pried yourself away from ESPN long enough to spill the blood of a she-goat?" Harry turns back to Richard and says, "You know how I feel about these barbaric Ano-movician customs." One of Harry's brothers calls Harry a racist. Richard apologizes to Harry, but explains, "Unless we complete the ritual, my family will never consent to the marriage." Harry takes Richard's hands and looks at him, then lets go of him and exits. Richard looks at the engagement ring she left in his hands. As Harry passes Doyle, she says, "One word, Francis, just one, and I'll eat your brains." You could take that two different ways. Doyle and Angel turn to leave, while Richard's brothers comfort him. "Who wants a wife whose knees only bend the one way," one of them comments.
After a new variety of stuttering blipvert, we see Doyle surfing the web at the office. He walks away, while Angel and Cordy peer at him through a window. "He's still really hung up on her, isn't he?" asks Cordy. "More than he knew, probably, yeah," Angel answers. Cordy says that Doyle needs cheering up. Cordy is still covering her tummy, but she's wearing a red choker, possibly one of those fake tattoo things, which makes it look as if her head has been disconnected and sewn back on. Angel gets up, but Cordy stops him and adds, "Someone with a heartbeat." That was pointlessly mean. Cordy walks into the office where Doyle is reclining on the sofa and asks, "Are you gonna become loser-pining guy, like, full-time now? 'Cause, y'know, we already have one of those around the office." Then she makes a goofy face. Both Angel and Doyle say, "Hey!" by way of complaint. Cordy gestures to Angel and says, "He can get away with it. He's tall, and look at the way clothes hang on him." Before she can continue, Angel says, "I think you've cheered us up enough." "Us"? Who said anything about attempting the Herculean task of cheering Angel up? Cordy sits down by Doyle and tells him, "Nice guys don't always finish last." Doyle says, suspiciously, "You think I'm a nice guy?" Cordy smiles a bit and says, "I think it, I say it. It's my way." Doyle thanks her. Cordy asks if he's feeling better, and Doyle says he is, which is of course the cue for another of his visionary headaches. Doyle sees a certain blonde slayer battling a vamp. He looks at Angel, who says, "What?" nervously. Doyle stares at Angel silently, secure in the knowledge that he's done his job in setting up week's "crossover event." Credits roll.