A young woman races down a dark, deserted street, hoping to escape her unseen pursuer. It's only been five seconds and I'm bored already. As she runs, there are a few new twists on the trusty blipvert: We see the scene in negative briefly, and the shot blurs and refocuses occasionally. Style choice, or drunken cameraman? You decide. Anyway, she looks behind her as she runs and naturally that's when she runs smack into the mysterious person she was trying to escape. The baddie has a sharp little metal talon on his index finger, the sort you can get in certain specialty shops that sell a lot of latex garb. We see him in silhouette as he vamps out. He scratches her cheek with the talon and then bites he neck. He sucks for a few seconds, which doesn't seem long enough to gobble up eight pints of blood, and drops her to the ground. The killer finally looks up as sirens approach. It's Angel. Suddenly Angel sits up in his bed, the sirens still wailing outside. Cut to Lockley arriving at the scene of the crime. She turns the head of the dead girl and sees the cross scratched into her cheek. "It's the same guy," she says. "This makes three. He's just getting started." Play that funky cello, white boy. Yup, Wesley's in the credits now.
Cordy says, with lots of dramatic pauses, "It's the city of dreams. A mystical oasis. Willed. From a desert. But even sunny, blonde L.A. has its trashy, dark roots, and you [sic] learned that the hard way, haven't you?" As Cordy stands up and walks to the front of the desk, we see that she's talking to an empty chair. "You've taken your problem to the police; they can't help you, so you've come to us," she says. Wesley enters and says, "I think it's about to speak." Cordy responds, "Nobody likes a smart-ass rogue demon hunter." And nobody likes Wesley, ever. I have no major complaints about Cordelia's outfit -- green turtleneck, flowered skirt, and jacket. Wesley says he dropped in to compare "battle plans from our respective fronts." Cordy says she thought he worked alone, so Wesley talks about having a "free exchange of intelligence." Wesley, Cordelia, and Angel couldn't muster up enough intelligence together to solve the jumble, so I can't see any of them having a surplus they could use in trade. Wesley continues, "Also, I brought in your mail and newspaper." He hands over the items to Cordy. She asks what news Wesley has on the demon front. "Everything seems quiet," he offers, and then asks if she has anything to share. Cordy says, "I've been giving the hard sell to an empty chair; what do you think?" Wesley gives a brief summary of their battle with the empathy demon for viewers who missed it. He begins touting his deductive skills when Cordy points out, "This isn't our mail." Turns out it should go to the dentist's office door. A dentist. door to a vampire. Get it?
Wesley looks at the paper and something on the front page captures his interest. Upon hearing the approaching elevator, Wesley says he should return the mail to the dentist and makes a hasty exit. Angel groggily wanders in and serves himself a nice cup of coffee dregs. Cordy asks, "You remember that license plate we got on that runaway case?" She explains that she couldn't get any information from the "stalker-phobic" DMV and suddenly interrupts herself to say, "Wow, you look half dead. Which, for someone who's completely dead, would be kinda neat." Cordy gives the license plate number to Angel, and asks him to see whether Kate could track it down for them. I was totally expecting Angel just to look it up online, since he can find out everything else that way. Cordy asks Angel if he's okay, and he insists that he's fine and that he'll go talk to Kate immediately. As he heads for the door, Cordy tries to stop him, but Angel snaps, "Look, I'm fine, Cordelia, all right?" He opens the door, starts to walk out into the sunlight, and jumps back inside. Cordy almost grins. "I'll take the tunnels," Angel says, and leaves. Cordy gets up to shut the door again, and we pan over to see Wesley lurking in the atrium. He sneaks out to catch a ride on a passing blipvert.
A policeman teleports across a street. Or maybe it was just another pointless cut. Inside the police station, Kate agrees to look up the license plate for Angel. Couldn't this have been handled over the phone? Kate segues, "To be honest, I wouldn't mind getting my head out of this case." She describes the victims to Angel: Reggie Sparks, a volunteer crossing guard; Jinny Markem, a tenth grader; and Jessica Halpren, a waitress. An officer drops the crime scene photos off for Kate, and Angel stares at the pictures of the girl from his dream. Kate tells him, "I spent the last forty-eight hours putting together a suspect profile." Uh, did you revise it since this morning? Because I'd think that the appearance of a third victim might provide some new data. She goes on, "The tabloids are calling him the Pope. Probably thinks he's doing God's work." Because God hates crossing guards. Angel says, "No. Just the opposite. This is about mocking God." Kate stares at him until he adds, "That's my guess." A policewoman tells Kate, "They're ready for you now," and Angel exits.
Tonight on Profiler...wait, no, it's just an incredible simulation. Kate, the twentysomething LAPD detective, must have been reading some Ann Rule books in her spare time, because she starts rattling off her profile of the killer. She tells the assembled detectives, "Our suspect will be a white male. To the observer, he will not seem a monster. His victims put up little or no struggle, so it's likely [that] he's charming, [and] attractive, but at his core, he's a loner." Which reminds me, I haven't made any hostile comments about my ex lately. Intercut with all of this nonsense are shots of Angel roaming the streets. At night. Even though it was pretty clearly daytime when he was at the police station mere moments ago. Kate continues with her pop-abnormal-psychology monologue: "Possibly a dual personality, who, once the crime has been committed, retains no memory of the act. He will not view his victims as subhuman; rather, it's himself he sees as something other than human -- more than human, a superior species." So our killer is a replicant? "It's unlikely he'll be married, though he may have recently come off a long-term relationship that ended badly. We look for a precipitating event in cases such as this, and a painful break-up is always at the top of our list. Prior to failing, this relationship may have marked an inactive period in our suspect's life. He would have regarded it as a lifeline. His salvation." Angel sees a blonde at a hotdog stand. She turns. Surprisingly, it is not Buffy. Wow, they sure had me fooled. "But once ended, [it] resulted in his recidivism. What is not in question is his experience. He's been doing this for a very long time, and he will do it again."
First, some serial killers have claimed to have multiple personality disorder, but it's pretty rare, and I can't imagine what basis Kate has for even mentioning it, except to slander people who actually suffer from this problem. Second, "painful break-up" is way down on the list for inspiring homicidal behavior. Often, serial killers have ongoing relationships even while they pursue their little hobbies. Third, I'd really like to know what leads Kate to believe this is an experienced killer when they only have three bodies, and why she doesn't mention whatever it is to the other cops. She doesn't even mention where the victims were found, or whether they were moved after their deaths. Plus, has she provided any useful information here? A white male. No age, no description of his habits, in what area of town to look for him, no mention of those "clue" things that I hear detectives are into. Finally, for the three victims to be so different is very unusual, and is yet another reason to nix the "bad break-up" idea, since then the killer would probably focus on people who resembled his ex. Okay, I know that all of these things were mentioned to make us think that maybe Angel is the killer, but come on, we know he isn't, so don't bother.
Cordy is closing up the office for the night. I'm looking forward to the episode on which she has to prepare her tax forms. She opens the door to find Wesley standing there, holding a stake. Wesley enters, closes the door, and asks where Angel is. "Not here" is Cordy's pithy response. Wesley reminds Cordy of his mix-up with the morning paper earlier, and says, "That's when I saw this," pulling out a clipping. Cordy stares at it in horror and says, "Oh my God. You cut up Doctor Folger's newspaper? You're gonna get us kicked out of this building!" If no one's complained about the demons crashing in through windows, why would they care about a stolen newspaper? Also, note yet another coffee reference in the good doctor's name. Wesley encourages Cordy actually to read the clipping, and Cordy painstakingly sounds out the words. "Third body found in alley. So?" Wesley says, "Note the modus operandi. The mutilation of the corpse with the religious icon?" Wesley explains that as Watcher, he did research on Angel in Sunnydale. "In the late 1700s, it was Angelus's custom to sign his victims by carving a Christian cross into their left cheek. He liked to let people know he'd been there." A Christian cross. Not that other, different-looking kind. Cordy speaks for us all when she tells Wesley, "You get to leave now." She continues, "You're not going to come in here and accuse Angel like this. I don't care how many files you have on all the horrible things that he did back in the powdered-wig days! He is good now, and he is my friend, and nothing you or anyone else can say will make me turn on a friend." An uncharacteristic display of loyalty there, or maybe she's just angling for a raise since Angel has suddenly entered behind Wesley. Angel comments, "He's right." I guess she was after a raise, because Cordy tells Wesley, "You stake him, and I'll cut his head off." Wesley aims a cross at Angel and orders, "Come no closer!" "I'm not going to hurt you," Angel insists. "Why should we believe a thing you say?" Wesley asks. Angel laughs, twists Wesley's arm around, grabs him by the neck, and says, "Because that's how fast I could take you if I wanted to." There's a brief glimpse of the old Angelus we knew and loved! Or, at least, knew and didn't despise quite as much.
Wesley stammers, "All right, we're listening." Angel pushes him away and explains, "I have no memory of doing any of these things." Cordy says, "Not exactly the confidence-inspiring denial I was looking for." Back to his dull, mopey self, Angel tells them, "I've been having dreams. Killing dreams. Always the same. I stalk them. Toy with them. Mark them while they're still alive -- before they can die from the fear I feed on them." "Die from the fear"? Cordy says, "Okay, so you've been having nightmares. It doesn't mean --" Angel interrupts, "They're not nightmares. I've enjoyed them." Wesley theorizes that Angel is sleepwalking, enacting his dreams, in the early hours before dawn. "There's only one way to be sure," Angel says.
Wesley and Cordy chain Angel to his bed frame. There's an unusual amount of S&M content this week. Cordy says, "Maybe you are just committing these horrible crimes in your dreams. But even so, I don't want to stick around for your nocturnal commissions." Heh. She leaves. A Puritan lass runs down the dark, deserted streets. Oh, wait, they're actually not deserted at all. She passes two carriages and some other pedestrians, and decides she'd be safer in an even darker locked courtyard with no people in it. If vampires are weeding out people who are this stupid, I really have no complaint against them. She pounds on the locked door. A shadowy figure pulls her to face him. Again, the little talon comes out. The tape goes negative while he scratches the cross in her cheek, then back to normal as he sinks his teeth into her throat. She falls to the ground. We hear Angel say, "There now, isn't that better?" in his faux-Irish accent. A quick shot of him with scraggly long hair and period clothes gives me a fit of the giggles as we cut back to Angel waking up in bed. "Wakey wakey!" chirps Cordelia. "Great news, sports fans! There's been another killing!" She shows the newspaper to Wesley. "Okay, well, maybe not-so-great news for the, you know, dead person, but at least now we know that Mr. I'm-So-Tortured didn't do it." "Yes, I did," says Angel from the bed. They all stare at each other.
Again we see the period Angelus say, "There now, isn't that better?" No, I'm afraid your accent and hair are still pretty awful, dude. Another blonde vamp pops up, blood on his mouth, and agrees. The new guy morphs back to his human face while Angelus provides color commentary. "First kill. Aptly done." Blondie notes, "Strange, she was my sister. "Ah, yet you feel nothing?" Blondie answers, "No. I feel hungry." "Ah, you do learn quickly," says Angelus. He says "ah" a lot, doesn't he? "My father would disagree," says Blondie. Angelus says it again! "Ah. Then perhaps it's time you shared with him just what a fine student you've become." Blondie is delighted. "My father. Yes." Angelus interrupts to say "Ahhhh." Blondie continues, "They'll all be sitting down to dinner now." Without your sister? Angelus clasps the blonde and says, "A feast! Excellent. When they invite you in, savor it, Penn. You'll not recapture the moment. Family blood is always the sweetest." Thank God they finally mentioned his name. Dance music blares as the modern-day Penn adds the news story about the latest killing to the collection of clippings taped up to the wall. He's got glasses now, and a goatee, and a freaky hairdo, short on the sides and long and over-gelled on top. Is there some sort of rule that vampires have to have goofy hair? Is that why Spike keeps his hair laminated to his skull?
Angel tells the others, "I taught him well." Cordy comments, "A real Psycho-Wan Kenobi." Wesley says, "Two hundred years' practice...I imagine he's got it down by now." Cordy says, "No lie. Gallagher's changed his act more times than this guy has in the last two centuries." For some reason, she raises her voice at the end, as if it's a question. "Why do you think he's still doing the same old shtick?" Wesley answers, "Well, it's a classic, isn't it? Every time he smashes that watermelon with a sledgehammer, I --" He trails off. I'm not surprised that Wesley likes Gallagher, but I am pleased to have even more evidence that Wesley sucks. Back on topic, Wesley wonders whether Penn is trying to get Angel's attention, and whether that's why Angel's been dreaming about the killings. Angel says, "No, I used to have a connection with those I sired. It just means he's close, that's all." Cordy summarizes, "Neat. We can't find him and the cops have zero chance of actually stopping him." Angel suddenly twitches, as if someone's just blown a special vampire-whistle, and heads for the door. "Kate," he explains. "She doesn't know what she's dealing with -- what she's up against." Wesley tells Angel, "You can't walk into a police precinct with intimate knowledge of these murders and tell them a two-hundred-year-old Puritan is responsible. You'd be locked up faster than Lady Hamilton's virtue!" After a moment, Wesley turns to Cordy and apologizes. She says, "That's okay, I don't know what that meant." Meanwhile, back at what passes for a plot, Angel insists that Kate will track down that nasty Penn eventually. Heck, with that incredibly useful and accurate profile she developed, she's probably found him already. "Bad for her, then," comments Cordy. "Or good for us," Angel cryptically replies. Blipvert.
Angel wanders through the police station until Kate spots him. "I have the info on your license plate," she tells him. If she's expecting a "thank you," she's out of luck. Angel stares ahead mutely. Kate asks if he's okay, "Not that the brooding, man-of-mystery thing isn't working for you. It is. A lot." Ugh. I've decided to believe that Kate is, quite understandably, suspicious about Angel, and where all of his money comes from, and so on, and as a result she continues hitting on him in this embarrassing way as an excuse to ask him personal questions and find out what he's up to. I'm not claiming there's any evidence for this, it's just my little way of retaining a shred of respect for her. Anyway, Angel asks if he can talk to Kate in private. She leads him to a conference room, where crime-scene photos hang on the bulletin board. He asks how the investigation is going, and Kate complains, "Some of your more inconsiderate serial killers fail to leave us any clues." Yeah, like ritual markings on the victims. That's not a clue or anything.
Kate pulls a necklace out from under her shirt and starts toying with it like a thirteen-year-old, while Angel pays a little visit to Flashback-land. The Penn family lies dead around their dinner table, crosses scratched into their cheeks. Then there's a major blipvert, with quick flashes of dead people from the past and present. Finally Angel says, "He's reliving it." We see that Kate has a cross hanging from her necklace. She asks what he means, and Angel says, "It' s complicated." Then he asks, "Do you trust me?" Kate says, "You know I do." She does? He does? When did that happen? Angel pulls out a pencil sketch of Penn, pins it to the bulletin board and says, "Trust me when I tell you this is the man you're looking for." Kate demands that Angel explain, but Angel just repeats, "Do you trust me?" Kate asks if he's protecting a source. Angel doesn't answer. Eventually Kate realizes that she has to answer Angel's questions, but he doesn't have to answer hers, because Angel is just a big, brooding five-year-old. Kate finally repeats, "Yes, I trust you." Angel says, "His victim will be a white male, adolescent. He'll take him off the streets in a low-rent neighborhood, probably near a bar or a liquor store, and he'll kill him just like he did these others, unless you use every resource this department has to make sure he's not successful this time." Angel walks out to his car, where Wesley sits. Wesley asks, "So you told her everything?" "Just enough to get her killed" is Angel's response. He hands Wesley a police radio and explains the clever plan: "Once I hook this up, if she finds something, we'll know about it." Wesley asks where Angel got the radio. "Police car" is the obvious response.
Back inside, Kate gestures to a map of Los Angeles and says, "Let's have patrols here, and here." I'm hoping that we missed a whole lot her plan, because two patrol units doesn't sound like "every resource this department has."
Blipvert. A white male adolescent, of the species Skateboarder bratticus, hangs out in front of a liquor store, trying to get someone to buy beer for him. Everyone ignores him -- everyone but that rapscallion Penn! Maybe Kate did know what she was doing, because one of the two patrol cars spies Penn and his little friend, who I think I'll call "Teller." Teller starts to get suspicious, and Penn says, "You remind me of a brother I once had." "Yeah, whatever," is Teller's insightful reply. Penn grabs him and does his work as the police car races up, just a bit too late. As cops surround him, Penn drops the boy and leaps into a boarded-up upstairs window. At the end, his leap is more of a flailing launch, actually. In his car, Angel and Wesley hear that the suspect is at 3336 Channel Avenue and race to the scene. Kate arrives and is told that the building has been sealed, and that search teams are on the way. Teller, apparently still alive, is lifted into an ambulance. Kate decides she'll go into the building. Alone. Without so much as a bullet-proof vest. Angel starts climbing up a drainpipe, so I guess when the police say a building is "sealed," they mean, "We've got some guys waiting at the front door."
Kate wanders the moody decrepit building. She whirls and aims her gun at Penn, who is descending a staircase toward her. "Don't move! Do not move! I will fire!" she shouts. Penn keeps moving. She fires three shots, and Penn collapses. She moves forward slowly, keeping her gun aimed, and checks his pulse. As she pulls out her police radio, Penn grabs her and throws her across the room. Suddenly Angel falls from the ceiling in a pile of bricks and blipverts. Penn stares at him and says, "Angelus. My God, it's been a lifetime." "At least," Angel growls. Penn, all bright-eyed and happy, says, "We were to meet in Italy, remember?" When Angel admits that he does, Penn whines, "Well, I waited. Hell, I waited 'til the nineteenth century. What happened?" While Kate takes her own sweet time struggling toward her radio, Angel explains that he got held up in Romania. "What's in Romania?" asks Penn. "Gypsies," Angel answers. Penn notices Kate requesting backup (sure, now she thinks of that) and claps Angel on the shoulder, saying, "Join me for a drink." "That's not why I'm here," Angel says. When Penn asks why Angel is there, Angel vamps out and says, "To kill you." A fight ensues. From what I can see, there's probably some nice stunt work going on, but since they're in a dark, dusty set, it's really hard to tell for sure. Eventually Angel throws Penn through a wall and shouts at Kate to get out. Penn jumps back in and demands, "You know its name? Angelus, what's happened to you?" Angel insists, "People change." More punches are exchanged while Penn notes, "We're not people." Kate starts to aim her gun at the pair of them, but Penn suddenly throws Angel onto her and makes his escape. As Angel picks himself up, Kate stares at him, probably wondering why on earth his eyebrows look so dumb.
When we come back from the commercials, crime-scene photographers are busy at work. Kate tells Angel, who's ditched his vampy look, "I shot him three times. I know I did. Then he got up." Angel moves toward her, and Kate instantly draws her gun and points it at his chest. "If I pull this trigger, are you going to get up, too? What are you?" "You already know the answer, Kate," Angel says. He's the Man Too Boring To Die, that's what he is. Kate holsters her weapon as Angel says, "Details have been left out of the press reports. There's something you've held back. Isn't that right?" No! Say it isn't so! Why, the police usually give the press every little detail about an unsolved crime, because that makes their work so much easier! If my eyes don't stop rolling, I'm going to need Dramamine. Angel goes to on to describe the puncture wounds on the victims, and guesses, "The victims have all been drained of their blood, haven't they?" Angel says that Kate won't be able to stop the killer this way. "It's going to take direct sunlight, decapitation, or a stake through the heart." Kate starts to leave, insisting that she doesn't believe any of this. Angel decides to try condescension: "I know you don't. Even after what you saw, you won't let yourself. Which is why you'll lose." When Kate says that she's heard enough, Angel grabs the cross hanging around her neck and, as his flesh sizzles, says, "You haven't heard a word. And you won't. Not now, not yet. Because there are some things in this world [that] you're just not ready to face." Having freaked her out sufficiently for the night, he leaves.
Dawn arrives. Kate studies the crime-scene photos. Someone brings her a pile of folders, saying, "Here's everything with that MO." Asked if she thinks that the killer is a copycat, Kate responds, "Something like that," and begins sorting through the papers.
At Angel's office, Cordelia is saying, "So you've discovered the seamy underbelly of the candy-coated America, have you? Well, you've come to the right place. Here at Angel Investigations, we won't judge, but we will charge. Now, if you'll only tell me how you heard of us?" Penn tells her, "From the police, actually." Penn strolls about the office as Cordelia eyes his dark jacket, draped over the chair. "Is it cold out there?" she asks. Penn chatters on, "I'm trying to remember her name, what was it?" He describes Kate until helpful Cordy says, "Oh yeah, Kate! Detective Lockley!" She goes on, "She and Angel are totally tight." Penn asks, "This is more than just a professional relationship then? He cares for her." Cordy says, "Oh yeah, more than he knows, but that's our Angel. Dour, sure, but not afraid to get personally involved in his work, and you're totally pumping me for information, aren't you?" Penn keeps circling the office as Cordy exclaims, "Oh crap! You're him! He! The guy! Apt-pupil-boy." Heh. She backs up against the window as Penn, not bothering to look at her, says, "You realize, you'll never make it to the exit before I --" "Go up like a match?" Cordy finishes, as she raises the blinds so that light streams into the room. Props to Cordy; that was one of the rare instances of good thinking we've seen in this show. Angel enters from the other door and sees Penn. They stare at each other across the ray of sunlight bisecting the room. Which shouldn't be enough to bother them, given all of Angel's daylight romps, plus Angel is wearing a long coat, plus, oh, you know, everything else they've done to make sunlight a minimal hindrance to Angel. Penn says, "Look who's back from his Up With People meeting." Heh. Cordy runs off to get a stake for Angel. Meanwhile, Penn asks, "What? You don't drink, so now no one gets to?" Angel says, "I don't expect you to understand." Penn says, "Oh, I understand. I was a Puritan, remember?" Angel insists, "It ends now." Penn responds, "How does that work, exactly? You just wake up one morning and decide, 'okay, now I'm good?' No, Angelus, it doesn't end. It never, ever ends. It just goes on, and on..." Cordy re-enters and comments, "That's not the only thing that goes on and on." She hands Angel a stake. While Angel toys with his stake (if you know what I mean), he says, "I'm sorry for what I did to you, Penn -- what I turned you into." Penn says, "A first-class killer? An artist? A bold re-interpreter of the form?" "Try 'cheesy hack,'" suggests Angel. "Look at you. You've been getting back at your father for over two hundred years. It's pathetic and clichéd." I guess he'd know. Angel continues taunting Penn for a while, while Penn starts backing out the door. Then Wesley strolls in, and Penn grabs him from behind. Maybe they should hang a sock on the doorknob when they're having a standoff with a vampire, to avoid this type of mix-up. Penn gets in some taunts of his own, promising to do something "new. Innovative. Something shockingly original." He pushes Wesley toward Angel, grabs his jacket, and scurries away.
Kate peruses the bookshelves at a place called Ancient Eye. Angel walks the streets. Penn scratches his ear. I brew some cocoa while nothing but a montage happens for over a minute. Finally there's a knock on Kate's door as she pores over some books. She opens the door to find Angel, who asks if he can come in. Kate says, "Oh, that's right, you have to be invited in, don't you?" Angel blinks and notes, "You've been doing your homework." Kate says, "Want to quiz me? I'm just full of fun facts. For instance, I learned that your friend has been in L.A. before -- did you know that? Yeah, at least twice. Once in 1928, and again in 1963." Angel cuts to the chase and asks if Kate believes him. She admits that she does, and then calls him "Angelus." "I looked it up. It's all right there. The demon with the face of an angel. A particularly brutal bastard by all accounts. Oh, and no, you can't come in." Angel starts his patented apologetic speech, but Kate is having none of it. "All of this, what's happening now, is really because of you. You made him, didn't you?" Angel whines, "Let me help end it, please." "Please," Kate repeats. "Now there's a word I imagine you heard quite a lot in your time. 'Please.' 'No.' 'Don't.' Thanks for the offer, but I don't need your help. I know what to do. Drive a stake right through the son-of-a-bitch's heart. And when that happens, I suggest you don't be [sic] there. Because the time we meet, I'll do the same to you." And then she slams the door. I knew I liked her for a reason.
Cordy, who has apparently chosen to dress up as Pocahontas with a lace-up top and turquoise necklaces, types away at the computer while Angel lurks behind her. She pulls up files about Penn's killings in the 1920s, when he was tracked to an apartment building, but fled the scene when the authorities arrived. Wesley, looking at some old newspapers, says that the same thing happened in 1963. Comparing photos, even Cordelia notices that Penn was living in the same building both times. "Good old predictable Penn," chuckles Angel. They are so lucky to have antagonists who are even more clueless than they are.
Wesley bursts into Penn's apartment and turns to invite Angel in. Angel explains, "That's only for humans. Breaking and entering another vampire's lair isn't a problem." They covered that before, but I guess they're happy to be able to explain anything that happens on this show, so I can't blame them for repeating it. Angel notes that Penn isn't home, and sorts through the papers on Penn's desk. He finds photos of school buses, and maps with bus routes marked. "He's finally changing his act," says Angel.
Kate enters the conference room and addresses the detectives. "This is the man that we're looking for," she says, holding up the drawing of Penn. "And this man is how we're going to find him," she concludes, showing surveillance photos of Angel in the police station. "His name is Angel and he's a local private detective. We have reason to believe that our suspect will make an attempt to contact Angel, possibly as his target." From the corner someone says, "This is a terrible likeness!" Penn stands up from his seat by the door. The cops start to rush Penn while Kate shouts, "No!" Then there's some freaky sped-up footage to imply that Penn is, well, quick, as he throws the cops aside. Kate begins scrambling in her bag for a stake, but Penn reaches her first and drags her out the door.
Wesley and Angel drive into the police garage while Wesley complains, "I don't understand. What about the schoolchildren?" Police cars begin racing out. Angel says, "He's here." Angel heads to the nearest manhole cover and pries it up.
Penn drags Kate through the tunnels below while she asks, "What are you going to do?" Penn says, "First, I thought I'd stop everything and tell you my plan. Better yet, why don't I just show you?" He throws her against a wall and gets his vamp face on. Kate declares, "I'm not afraid to die." Penn responds, "Oh, I'm not going to kill you. But when I'm finished, Angel will." Doesn't he mean, "Angelus?" Angel enters the tunnel behind Penn and asks, "Bus full of school children, Penn? You really thought I was going to fall for that?" It's nice that Angel never bothers taking advantage of the element of surprise or anything. Idiot. Kate fumbles in her pocket while Penn turns to tell Angel, "You could have." "Nah," says Angel. "Too original." Kate pulls out a bottle of holy water and splashes it on Penn's face. He hurls her across the room and falls. When he picks himself back up, his face is blistered. Penn says, "Well, you were right about one thing, Angelus. The last two hundred years has [sic] been about me sticking it to my father. But I've come to realize something. It's you." He lunges at Angel. It was about this time that I realized that the actor playing Penn has been doing a Christian Slater impersonation this whole time. Or a bad Jack Nicholson impersonation. Or both. Angel and Penn trade punches while Penn shouts, "You made me! You taught me! You approved of me in ways my mortal father never did. You're my real father, Angelus." I think Penn needs an intervention. Angel does his best by throwing Penn to the floor and saying, "You're grounded." Stop him before he quips again. More fighting. It's a pretty good fight, actually. And it gives me time to wonder if Drusilla had a sibling rivalry with Penn or anything. I also wonder why Angel hasn't put on his vampy face. Kate tries to pick up a broken beam or something to use as a stake and gets whapped for her trouble. Finally, Penn manages to grab Angel from behind and holds him just as Kate manages to get up again with the beam. Penn takes the time to tell Angel, "Living among them has made you weak! It sickens me to think that there was a time you would have done whatever was necessary." Angel looks at Kate as she aims the beam at them. She lunges at them, and Penn is dusted, but Angel is unharmed. The camera reveals that she has driven the beam at an upward angle through Angel, so it missed Angel's heart while neatly dispatching Penn. Good trick. Angel and I chorus, "You missed," and Kate says, "No, I didn't." She pulls the beam out of Angel, and he falls down in a heap. I like it when Angel falls down. Hee hee!
Angel stares down at the city from one of his rooftop perches. Cordy comes out wearing some kind of crazy fringed hooded poncho. She tells Angel, "If you're wondering why this vein on my temple is doing the cha-cha, it's because I just had one of those bone-crunching, mind-splitting, vision headaches." She hands a piece of paper to Angel and says, "New job." Angel finally says, "I was just thinking about how much this place is like where I grew up." Cordelia agrees, "I could see that, except for the cars, and the buildings, and the, you know, everything else." Angel insists, "It's not so different. People moving through their lives. I wonder if anything ever really changes." Cordy reassures him in semi-coherent fashion (which also describes her wardrobe, come to think of it), "Sure it does. They do. You have. They were just dreams, Angel. They weren't even your dreams. They didn't mean anything." Angel whispers, "But I enjoyed it." Cordy responds, "It'd probably be okay if you never mentioned that part, ever again." When Angel says, "It's in me, Cordelia," she answers, "But it's not the only thing that's in you. You're not him, Angel. Not anymore. The name I got in my vision -- the message didn't come for Angelus, it came for you, Angel. And you have to trust that whoever the Powers That Be...are...is...Anyway, they know the difference." Cordy concludes, "People really do change." Angel agrees, "Yes, they do. And sometimes, they change back." Only when they get a little slayer-nookie. Angel, determined to be depressing, says, "If the day ever comes that I --" Cordy finishes the thought, "Oh, I'll kill you dead." Angel offers her an insincere, "Thanks." "What are friends for?" asks Cordy. Considering what a problem Angel was for the Scooby Gang last time he went bad, I'm not sure why Cordelia is so confident she could deal with it.