Once upon a time, or more specifically, in 1753 in Galway, Ireland, a buxom wench fills her pitcher at the well. I'll start off by saying that I'm sure that there are plenty of historical inaccuracies in these flashbacks, but as long as there aren't any blatant anachronisms, I don't see any reason to nit-pick. Besides, I suck at history, and this is Angel, so there's no shortage of other things to mock. So, the girl starts to walk away with her pitcher, leaving the wooden bucket on the edge of the well instead of lowering it back in, which seems like an odd thing to do. A slovenly-dressed Angel lurking in the shadows calls, "Anna," and the girl stops and turns. "Master Liam?" she asks. Angel (I'm not going to refer to him as Liam because with the flashbacks this is confusing enough to describe) asks her to come closer. She protests by mentioning his father. Angel says that his dad's at church. Anna asks why he doesn't come out into the sunlight, and Angel claims the light hurts his eyes. "And I know the reason why!" a deep voiced man adds, as he shoves Angel down to the ground. "Up again all night, is it? Drinkin' and whorin'! I smell the stink of it on you!" Oh, I get it: we were meant to think he was that nasty Angelus, but really he was just recovering from a hangover. Hair that's too short to be pulled back into his ponytail flops around on both sides of Angel's face ridiculously. Since we all know it's a wig, couldn't they find one that looked better than this? Dad yells at Angel for trying to corrupt the servant girl, and Angel replies, "Everyone gets corrupted, but I find some forms of corruption are more pleasant --" You can almost taste the dramatic irony. Then Dad hits him and calls him "a lay-about and a scoundrel."
Cut to the present, where Angel is fighting a leprous-looking demon in a subway tunnel. At a nearby station, a cop leads Kate toward the stopped train. Kate's wearing jeans and a flannel shirt over a T-shirt. I wonder if the fact that she never was able to officially solve the serial killings from a few weeks ago has led to her demotion. He tells her that a crazy homeless guy went nuts on the train, and one of the passengers pulled the emergency brake. Kate asks where the suspect is, and the cop says that according to the passengers, he was pulled out of the car through one of the ceiling vents. Kate grabs a flashlight and goes marching into the tunnel. Angel and the demon are still duking it out when the demon suddenly grabs his chest in the interdimensional sign for "I'm having a heart attack," and keels over. Kate enters, sees the dead demon, gasps, and says, "I guess I can forget about reading him his rights." I thought it was just Angel, but now I realize that no one on this show should be allowed to make quips. Let's watch the credits and forget this ever happened.
Kate looks at the dead body and realizes that it isn't human. Angel tells her that it's a demon, and reassures her that it's dead. "So they die then," Kate confirms. "Yeah," says Angel, and you can tell he wants to say, "Duh!" Kate says she's having trouble with "this otherworldly stuff." Angel explains that "Demons aren't technically otherworldly, I mean, in fact, they were here first," as Kate stalks off. Angel follows, and Kate asks if she should call the coroner or hazardous materials. Angel advises her to just ignore it, and it'll go away. She says that strategy hasn't worked on him. All right, it didn't happen quite that way, but don't you wish it had? He asks what she normally does in cases like these, and Kate says she's never seen a case like this one. Angel tells her, "People have a way of seeing what they need to." They watch as a witness is interviewed by another cop. The witness has a delivery bag and a prominent label on his jacket that says, "Blue Circle Delivery," which just happens to be placed almost at the exact center of the TV screen. I'm thinking that we're supposed to notice that. Kate reviews the description of their suspect: average weight, average height, average build. Blue Circle Guy says he doesn't remember anything in particular about the crazy guy on the train, and that he pulled the emergency brake when the guy came after him. Kate asks why he was attacked. Blue Circle Guy's smile fades and he answers, "He didn't say." Kate gives up, tells the cop to start circulating the description, and lets Blue Circle Guy go. Angel looks into the distance and asks Kate, "What's your father doing here?" Kate goes over to her dad and basically repeats Angel's question. He says he was "in the neighborhood." Kate guesses that he heard about the situation on his police scanner and decided to come check it out. She asks, "Did you also happen to hear I was the lead officer on scene?" He says that she's doing a good job, and that he'll let her get back to work, without actually answering the question. Mr. Lockley leaves, and Angel approaches. Kate stares after her dad and says, "I think he's actually checking up on me." Angel notes that she sounds surprised about that. Kate turns to him and says, "No, you don't get to do that." Angel says, "What?" She answers, "Kill a demon in front of me and then act like we're gonna have a cappuccino together. It doesn't work that way." Angel does not say, "It worked with my last girlfriend!" Nor does he say, "Actually, I didn't kill the demon in front of you, he had a heart attack just before you got there!" Instead, he asks, "How does it work?" Kate says she isn't sure that it does, and that "you're probably a pretty decent guy for a -- you know, what you are, but let's keep this strictly business, all right? We don't get personal. I'm not your girlfriend." Kate stomps off, while Angel tries to figure out how Kate managed to dump him without ever dating him.
Back in the eighteenth century, Darla watches while Angel carouses and fights and drinks in a pub. Darla claims that he is "magnificent." Her waitress, like most of us who aren't insane and undead, begs to differ. She tells Darla, "His lies sound pretty when the stars are out, but he forgets every promise that he's made when the sun comes up again." While Darla gazes dreamily at Angel, she says, "That wouldn't really be a problem for me, actually." Sorry, but I actually hate redundant adverbs, really. Angel goes on smashing bottles and throwing people across tables without anyone intervening, because in Doyle's absence someone has to fulfill the drinking-brawling-Irish stereotype. He looks up and grins at Darla, at which point someone smashes a bottle over his head.
"Pay attention!" Cordelia demands, returning us to the present. She tells Angel, "All we have to do is decide what the code will be." Cordy reminds Angel that they just installed a new security system, following a suggestion I made a while ago. Cordy claims that "the installation guy said it should be something easy to remember, like my birthday." Since the date of Cordelia's birth is a closely guarded secret, that seems like a good choice. Angel points out that he doesn't know her birthrate. Cordy responds, "Yeah, tell me something you don't know that I don't know. But after eleven and a half months of punching it into this, you won't have any excuses!" Wesley enters, and Cordy's face suddenly goes from concerned to grinning, leading me to wonder if Boreanaz just made a silly face at her or something. Then she goes back to concerned as Wesley says that he thinks he identified the demon that Angel battled in the subway, and shows them a picture from the Encyclopedia Demonica. He says it's a Kwaini, adding that "They're always female." So we can now add "How do Kwainis reproduce?" to the list of questions to discuss in the forums. Wesley says disposing of the body shouldn't be difficult, but says that according to his research, the Kwaini is nonviolent. "They're incredibly articulate, gentle creatures, not even capable of the kind of power and strength you described." Angel wonders what could make it attack a bunch of people on a subway train. "Something on the train, perhaps?" Wesley asks. "Or someone," Angel adds, as we get our first blipvert of the show.
At the police station, Kate finishes some filing and turns around to see Angel lurking in the doorway. She asks what's up, and he says, "It's about that demon from this morning..." Kate pulls him into the room and closes the door, saying, "If you insist on talking about this stuff, could you please not say that word? It makes me, it makes me, just, I don't know, uncomfortable. Just say, 'Evil Thing,' okay?" Angel agrees, and explains, "It's just that the, uh, Evil Thing wasn't an evil thing." Kate is confused. Angel tries again: "Well, it was an Evil Thing, in terms of that word, it wasn't an evil Evil Thing." "There are not-evil Evil Things?" Kate asks, wondering if she's accidentally fallen into a Monty Python sketch. Angel looks hurt, and says that there are. Kate changes topics by asking how Angel got there during daylight hours, and Angel reminds her about the sewer systems. He asks her for a list of the passengers on the train, to try and figure out what could have caused the incident. Kate says, "There was nothing on the train; we searched it." Angel repeats that he wants to investigate the passengers, "I think we should start with that delivery guy, the man who pulled the emergency brake." Kate asks if the Kwaini is still dead, and Angel admits that it is. Kate says, "Good. You told me to forget about it; I'd like to." Angel keeps protesting, and Kate finally says, "There's nothing here. Your not-evil Evil Thing was just evil, okay? Now can't we just leave it at that?" Angel pouts us right into a blipvert.
Angel sits in his car, parked outside of the offices of Blue Circle Delivery Service as he chats with Wesley on his cell phone. Wesley says, "You can hardly blame her for being skittish on the topic." Angel replies, "I suppose so, I don't know. Ever since she ran me through with a two-by-four, things have been different." As he treks through the subway tunnels, Wesley jabbers about how people need "a period of adjustment" to accept the "dark forces all around us." Wesley starts to go on about how, "Women in particular --" when Cordy shouts, "Found it!" She kneels on the ground by the dead demon and waves her hacksaw triumphantly. Hee hee hee! Wesley nervously finishes his sentence with"--struggle with it," as Cordy prepares to carve up some Kwaini. Angel keeps talking, worried that Kate will be so busy "struggling with the big picture, she'll miss the details." Angel confirms that Wesley will run "the tests," and hangs up. Then he watches as the Blue Circle delivery guy shows up and starts talking on his own cell phone. The delivery guy gets into his van and, frankly, words cannot describe the excitement that fills me during the powerful "Van Backing Up" scene. He drives away, and Angel moves out in lukewarm pursuit. Cut to the van parked in front of an apartment building. I just wish we'd gotten to see the "Parallel Parking" scene, but apparently the WB censors felt it was too intense for this timeslot. Incidentally, I think this is the same building they use for the exteriors of Cordy's apartment, and the apartment that Apt Pupil-boy lived in. Wouldn't it be funny if they all lived in the same building? Inside, Angel hides behind a corner and watches as the delivery guy knocks on an apartment door. The door is answered by... Mr. Lockley! They converse inaudibly for a moment, then Mr. Lockley hands the guy a plain brown package and slams the door.
After the ads, Mr. Lockley is fixing himself some coffee (seriously, does Juan Valdez sponsor the show?) when he hears another knock at the door. He opens in to find Angel. Angel introduces himself, reminding Mr. Lockley, "We met at your retirement party. I'm a friend of your daughter's." A friend of his daughter's what? (I think I'm channeling Sars, because normally I wouldn't notice that.) Mr. Lockley, worried, asks, "Katie? Did something --" Angel says that Kate is fine, and Mr. Lockley sighs with relief. I mention this because I'm pleased they tried to show another side to the brusque father character. Angel goes on to say that Kate doesn't know he's here, "Though you can bet she'd be interested to know who was just here visiting you." Angel, getting pissy, adds, "You know, she actually thought you were at the crime scene today because you were worried about her?" Mr. Lockley asks what Angel wants, and Angel says he wants to know what was in the package. He says, "You removed something from the crime scene today. Something somebody didn't want the police to find." Mr. Lockley starts to close the door, and Angel asks who he works for. "I don't work for anybody, I'm retired," he replies. Angel declares that he will find out what's going on. Mr. Lockley asks, "Are you threatening me, son?" Angel says he's trying to protect Kate. "From what?" Mr. Lockley demands. "From finding out that the reason you were there today wasn't because you cared about her," Angel snaps. Mr. Lockley asks if Angel has any kids. Angel says he doesn't, because siring vampire-spawn probably isn't what Mr. Lockley meant. "Then don't think you can know how a father feels, or why he does the things he does!" Mr. Lockley barks, and shuts the door.
Angel stomps through his family's Irish split-level home while his father shouts his name, and stands in front of a young girl I think we can safely assume is his sister, and another woman who I guess is his mom. He's managed to get all of his wig back in the ponytail for once. Dad appears in the background and yells, "You'll do as I say!" Angel wipes a tear away from the girl's cheek and says, "Sweet Kathy, no tears. We'll meet again." Dad interjects, "Defy me now, you won't! Not as long as I live." Why is Dad talking backwards? Is Angel skipping out on his training to go rescue Han and Leia? Without a word to his mother, Angel turns and says, "You'll want to move away from the door now, Father." Dad says that if Angel leaves, he can't ever come back. "As you wish, Father," Angel says, "Always, just as you wish." Which, if I remember my Princess Bride correctly, means "I love you." Dad looks shocked at this back-talk for some reason, and declares, "It's a son I wished for! A man! Instead, God gave me you -- a terrible disappointment!" Angel retorts, "A more dutiful son you couldn't have asked for!" Good grief, they're all talking backwards. He goes on, "My whole life you told me in word, in glance, what it is you required of me, and I've lived down to your every expectation, now haven't I?" Dad declares this to be "madness," because pop psychology hasn't been invented yet. Not letting that detail stop him, Angel says, "The madness is that I couldn't fail enough for you. But we'll fix that now, won't we?' Dad says, desperately, "Who'll take you in? No one!" Angel says, "I'll not lack for a place to sleep, I can tell you that. Out of my way," and heads for the door. Dad grabs him by the shoulder, and, looking inexplicably moved, says, "I was never in your way, boy." Angel pulls away and leaves. Dad shouts after him, "If you go courting trouble, you're sure to find it!" and slams the door before the blipvert can get him. Well, I can see where Angel got his knack for one-liners.
In disjointed slow-mo, we see: Angel grabbing the waitress who spoke ill of him earlier; Darla opening a cut on her chest; Angel and another girl in the bar; Darla standing in a courtyard; Angel making merry; Angel putting the make on Mary; Darla saying "You know what to do;" Angel; Darla; and the big old siring of Angel scene, as seen on Buffy. While Angel sucks at Darla's chest, Kate says, "So, why this sudden urge to have lunch?" Turns out she's talking to her father, as they stroll along a pier-side park of some sort. He says "Lunchtime, isn't it?" and finally confesses that he wanted to spend time with her. They sit down and start munching on hot dogs, and Mr. Lockley abruptly asks, "So, how's Angel?" Kate is a bit startled by this question. Mr. Lockley asks, "That ain't a Mexican name, is it?" Kate says she doesn't think so. He asks if she's still seeing Angel. Kate continues to look baffled, and says, "We were never seeing each other, Dad." Oh, these are always such fun conversations to have with your parents, aren't they? Mr. Lockley asks what's wrong with Angel: "He married?" Kate says no. "West Hollywood?" Again, Kate says no, but how can she be sure? She explains that Angel's just not her type. Mr. Lockley asks if Angel has a job, and Kate tells him Angel's a private investigator. For cops, he's not very good at interrogating, and she's not very good at noticing when she's being pumped for information. Mr. Lockley asks if Angel is any good, and Kate says that he is, "And he doesn't mind working nights." Kate asks if her dad really took her out to lunch to ask about Angel. Mr. Lockley says that Angel "made an impression." She asks if he liked Angel. "Not really," Mr. Lockley confesses. "Then what's this all about?" Kate wonders. Mr. Lockley finally says, "It's not good to be alone, Katie." Kate looks pensive.
At Angel's, Wesley is playing with his monster dissection kit. He announces that the demon was definitely a Kwaini, but there's something strange about it. Wesley shows Angel what looks like nice flank steak and says, "Think of it as the creature's adrenal gland. Normally, it would be the size of a walnut." He says that the "inflammation" was caused by a substance he found in the Kwaini's system. Circulatory system, nervous system, we don't know; just its system. Wesley hands Angel a bottle of the amber fluid he found. He says, "It's synthetic, and it seems to contain properties not unlike street PCP." As opposed to the PCP you find in finer department stores. Wesley adds, "I did identify eye of newt as one of the ingredients, but, one suspects, added chiefly for taste, rather than kick." Angel summarizes that the Kwaini was high, "and the delivery guy was probably carrying." Since the drug enhances strength, Angel asks what it would do to a demon that's already powerful. "I shudder to think," Wesley replies. Just then Cordy comes down the stairs, wearing a flowery spandex midriff-baring top, a pink jacket, sunglasses, and a blonde wig. She whines about the security system not being turned on. It appears that Cordy has been following the delivery guy. And she wore this outfit so that she'd be less noticeable? She whines about the traffic. She whines about parking. Angel says, "It's not like in the movies, is it?" Cordy says, "No. Fortunately, I am," and uses that as a nonsensical segue into pulling out the video camera she used while trailing the delivery guy. I'm astonished that Cordelia doesn't ask how Angel can afford these gizmos but can't give her a raise. Instead of just telling them what he did, she shows Angel and Wesley some stills of him delivering various innocent parcels. Wow, it's so much more enthralling with visual aides. Then there's a shot of an exotic car place that he spent a long lunch at, and several shots of him outside the shop, all but shouting "Hey, watch me put more mysterious brown packages in my delivery bag!" Anyone care to guess why he didn't put them in his bag while he was inside? Me neither.
Mr. Lockley visits the car shop to tell some baddies about Angel investigating him. He asks what is in the packages, and says, "We agreed that I'd use my department connections to facilitate movement of your untarriffed auto parts. We didn't agree that I'd be removing evidence from crime scenes, or pumping my own daughter for information." Mr. Lockley doesn't seem like the kind of guy who'd use the word "facilitate." One of the baddies, who's apparently been on "Felicity," and thereby entered the WB stable never to escape, says they appreciate the "extra lengths" Mr. Lockley has gone to. He pulls out one of those manila envelopes that bad guys always keep their money in. Mr. Lockley takes the envelope and gives the baddies some advice: "Whatever it is you're moving in your little brown packages, dial it down for a while." Glaring at them, he leaves. The baddie who gets to have dialogue turns and asks, "Any instructions on how we should proceed with this Angel person, sir?" A great big demon with a melty plastic face, and eyebrows that make Angel's look dainty, marches out and growls, "Kill him." The baddie protests that doing so might scare off Mr. Lockley. Pleatherface replies, "Kill Lockley too. God, do I have to think of everything around here? Someone give me an adrenal gland!" and marches out again.
At the grave, Angel's family, and assorted citizens who are probably just hoping to get invited to the wake, gather for the funeral. Mom cries, because she didn't get one line of dialogue in all of these flashbacks. Dad looks stern, but we can tell that deep down, his heart is breaking. Yawn. We don't get to find out Angel's last name, but we can see that the gravestone reads: "1727 - 1753; Beloved Son." The priest talks about how Angel: "twenty years and six, " "well-loved," "eternal soul," blah blah blah dustcakes. It just occurred to me, but twenty-six is awfully old to still be at home. That evening, as the gravediggers rush off to make it in time for act five of "Hamlet," Darla does her slow-mo sashay to Angel's grave. She watches as Angel digs his way out to the surface. I get all excited, thinking that we'll get to see a little bit of Angelus to liven up this episode. Darla greets him a little speech about how "birth is always painful." Yeah, we can see their breath in the cold air, but I don't mind things like that. It's the gaping plot holes that get to me. Groundskeeper Willie's ancestor calls, "You there!" and shines a light on Darla and Angel. (I know Willie's Scottish; let me have my little joke.) He accuses them of being grave robbers, and then stands there dumbfounded as Angel advances on him, vamps out, and has some breakfast. After Angel drops the groundskeeper's body, Darla claims, "It all makes sense now, doesn't it?" She tells him he can have anyone in the village. Angel says, "Any one? I thought I'd take the village." He's talking like Angelus, but he doesn't have the attitude down yet. I'm disappointed.
Cordelia punches 0-5-2-2 into the security system, so I guess that's the month and year of her birth. Wesley, looking at the brochure, says, "So now we should be protected by "state of the art home and workplace security designed to attractively complement any room, home, or office, TM."" Angel pops in to say that he's headed down to the car shop. Wesley offers to come along as backup, but Angel says it's "strictly recon." Wesley agrees that "A deliberate, cautious approach would be the most sensible plan. Fools rush in." Cordy says, "No, he wants you stay here." Then Kate walks in the front door, causing an annoyed Cordy to grab the security system brochure. She and Angel chat in his office. She gives him a list of the subway passengers. Angel thanks her, and asks why she changed her mind. Kate admits that it was something her father said: "He asked if you were good." Angel stares at her blankly and repeats, "Good?" She clarifies, "At what you do. I said you were." She goes to say he has good instincts, and that if Angel thinks there's something strange going on, there probably is. Then Kate asks Angel to let her know if he finds anything. He asks if she's sure about that. "Got to face those demons sometime, right?" she answers, cueing the blipvert.
Wesley is arguing that Angel is going "above and beyond the call of duty." As he searches through his desk drawers, Angel says he has to try. Wesley says that Angel's already warned Mr. Lockley once. Angel says, "I already warned him about me, Wesley. Now he needs to understand the real nature of what it is he's working for." Wesley says Mr. Lockley might already know. Angel says he doesn't, and starts digging through Cordy's desk. Wesley says that Mr. Lockley must know that "he's in league with someone who, if not criminal, is certainly unethical -- it's his choice!" As Cordy wanders in, Angel snaps, "Sometimes the price we end up paying for one bad choice isn't commensurate with the offense." Commensurate? Who talks like that? Cordy tells Angel to "talk some sense" into Mr. Lockley, and hands him the car keys, which is apparently what he's been searching for all this time. As Angel exits, Cordy turns on the security system. Immediately a woman's recorded voice announces "Door is open!" as a Kwaini enters. Wesley goes to defend Cordelia, while the voice adds, "Bathroom window is ajar!" Wesley is thrown to the floor, and Cordy smashes a potted plant over the first Kwaini's head while another pops out from the bathroom. After everyone's had a chance to trash the office bit, Angel just happens to return. Isn't that lucky? He holds up the bottle of demon-steroid and says, "Bet you'd like some of this." The Kwaini's follow him toward the elevator, whereupon he tosses it to the floor. While they fight each other for it, he picks one up and tosses it through the window. I hope Angel gets a bulk rate on window replacement. The voice announces, "Window is open." How come sometimes it tells them which window, and sometimes it just says "window?" While Angel throttles the remaining Kwaini, Cordy says, "I'm unplugging it," and goes to disconnect the security system. Angel tells the Kwaini he's choking, "I know you can, so talk!"
As Angel walks along an undetermined hallway, he makes a call on his cell phone: "Kate, it's Angel. Pick up if you're there. If you get this message, get a hold of your father, get him out of his house; he's in danger." Cut to Mr. Lockley opening his door to greet the baddies. He asks what they want, and the baddie who gets to talk says, "It'd be better if we discussed it inside; it concerns your daughter." Angel, still on the phone, gets into his car while telling Kate's answering machine, "He doesn't know what they are, Kate, he won't understand. I'm on my way there now."
Angel's dad hammers the shutters closed and then turns in surprise when Angel starts talking to him. Angel leans against a wall as he says, "You're no different then the rest of them, are you, Father? Boarding up the windows, smearing that foul herb in the doorways. You'd think something evil, and vile, and monstrous had taken to terrorizing this village and everyone in it." His father backs around the table as Angel approaches. Dad falls back on the rulebook and insists, "A demon cannot enter a home where it's not welcome! He must be invited!" I don't know if he expected Angel to say, "Oh, my bad, I forgot," and leave, since he clearly is inside, but whatever. Angel says he was invited, and looks toward the front door. His father looks, and sees little Kathy slumped down on the floor. Angel explains, "She thought I returned to her... an angel." Good thing she didn't think he was a ghost, or he'd have an even sillier name now. Dad tries to attack Angel, shouting, "Murderer!" and is thrown to the floor. Angel says, "Strange. Somehow, you seemed taller when I was alive. To think I ever let such a tiny, trembling thing make me feel the way you did." Dad crosses himself and begins to pray. Angel goes on whining about how his dad was so mean: "You said I'd never amount to anything. You were wrong." Angel vamps out and concludes, "You see father, I have made something of myself after all," and sinks his teeth into the parental jugular as the blipvert starts. The actor playing his dad is good at looking horrified.
Mr. Lockley offers the baddies a drink. "We'll wait," says the baddie who can talk, while Mr. Lockley heads for the liquor shelf. The baddie asks if Mr. Lockley has mentioned them to Kate. He says he hasn't as he pours himself a drink. The baddie explains that Kate might not share his "pragmatism." Mr. Lockley says gruffly, "You mean, you were afraid she wasn't crooked like her old man. She's not, and she'll never have to be. I've seen to it." The baddie says he's glad they could help Mr. Lockley provide for his daughter. Mr. Lockley puts the bottle back, and opens a hutch in his bookshelf, where we can see gun sitting, before asking if there's anything else. There's a knock on the door, and the baddie stops advancing as Mr. Lockley stops reaching for the gun. He opens the door, and Angel says, "Mr. Lockley, I need you to invite me in." Just a tip, but that would sound a little less odd if you said, "Can I come in?" Mr. Lockley tells Angel to leave, while the baddie walks up behind him. Angel starts pushing against the invisible barrier blocking him, and again tells Mr. Lockley to ask him in. The baddies vamp out and the non-talking one grabs Mr. Lockley, throwing him across the room while Angel shouts, "No!" The talking baddie leans toward the door and says, "Looks like you're not welcome here, bro." Angel says, "He dies, the very instant his soul leaves his body, I'm through this door, and I kill you both." The slow-mo hits again and Angel can do nothing but watch as the vampires kill Mr. Lockley. Wow, that's pretty awful: cool. Finally, Mr. Lockley is dropped to the floor, and Angel is finally able to run into the room. Breaking off a chair leg, he quickly stakes the non-talking baddie. The remaining baddie runs out through the door, passing Kate as she hurries in. How come everyone hires vampires to be their minions? Do they have their own temp agency? And what do the vampires get out of it? It's not as if they need money; maybe they just get really, really bored, so they start being a flunky for another demon as some kind of hobby.
During the commercials, I wondered if Kate would think Angel had killed her father, especially since it fits in with Angelus' stalking pattern that Giles once talked about. But I guess that answering machine message convinced her he was a good guy. Too bad, because that would have been a nifty plotline. Anyway, when we come back she's sobbing on the floor by her father's body. Angel explains that Mr. Lockley invited the vampires in, and that he couldn't get into the room to help. Angel says, "He was involved in something, Kate, something he couldn't have understood." Kate, understandably, tells Angel to leave. Angel backs away through the door, looking horrified and sad and unsure. Hey, when Boreanaz manages to convey emotion, I'm happy to acknowledge that fact.
Angel opens his Cabinet of Exotic Weaponry and starts to suit up. I think he's inserted noisemakers on most of his swords and daggers, because nearly every item he picks up makes an exciting swishing noise if he moves it more than an inch. As Angel straps on his special spring-loaded forearm stakes, Wesley enters and asks, "What happened to calmly, cautiously, and deliberately investigating before rushing in?" Angel says he's moved on to Plan B. Wesley asks what Plan B is. Angel turns, gesturing so that the axe he's holding makes some more swooshing sounds, and asks, "Do I really have to explain it to you?" Meanwhile, Kate cowers in a corner of her father's apartment, staring into space, which is rather creepy. She looks around the room and sees the manila envelope of money. Near it is a business card for "Kel's Exotic Auto." Nice of the bad guys to leave their business card. I'll assume Mr. Lockley already had it, to spare myself the migraine.
We see four more baddies gathered around a desk at the car shop. Kate raises her pistol into the frame, aims, and shoots the three baddies who aren't allowed to talk. They fall down for some reason. Mind you, I don't mean that they shouldn't fall down because they're vampires; I mean they shouldn't fall down because if there's enough force behind those bullets to knock them off their feet, the recoil should probably knock Kate down, too. Aiming at the vampire spokesman, Kate says, "My father may not have known what you are, but I do." The spokesman approaches with a skeptical, "Do you?" so she shoots him in the arm. He doesn't fall down, and Kate says, "I know it won't kill you, but this will!" and pulls out a stake and dusts him. Pleatherface stomps in, asking, "What do you think you know? Do you know what walks this city?" Kate backs up, and the remaining vamps surround her. She shoots Pleatherface a few times with no effect. He says, "You don't understand what stands before you." There's a glaring continuity error here, as shots of Kate show her bracing her right arm with her left, while shots of Pleatherface show that from behind, Kate's left arm is down at her side.
Then Angel enters casually, toying with his axe, asking, "A big, ugly, drug-running demon who thinks he's a lot scarier than he really is, maybe?" Angel needs to read up on the element of surprise. Finally, we get the big fight. For some reason Kate chooses to keep pointing her gun at the vampires, instead of dropping it and using the stake. I want to like her, but it's difficult to do that when she's this dumb. Angel (or his stunt-double) gets to do a really lovely roundhouse kick, pulls Kate out of danger, and then puts his axe against Pleatherface's neck. Angel says, "We walk out of here now, you don't lose your head." Kate finally wises up and readies her stake. She and Angel start to move toward the door when Pleatherface makes his move. Kate rushes to stake one vamp, leaving room for Angel to go for a big finish. He tosses his axe up into the air, pops out his forearm-stakes and dusts the vampires on either side of him, then catches the axe before it lands, and beheads Pleatherface. Show-off. I wish I could stop there, but honestly compels me to admit that before being killed, Pleatherface shouted, "You're dead!" and Angel replied, "I'm already dead," then made with the chop-chop and added, "Welcome to the club." That wasn't funny or necessary in any way. Sigh. Kate crouches on the floor, and Angel asks if she's okay. She starts to cry again, and the most comforting thing Angel can think of to say is, "Never trust an evil Evil Thing." He starts to say something about her father, and Kate turns and says, "My father was human. And you don't know anything about that." She leaves.
Darla says, "This contest is ended, isn't it?" She enters the old homestead, and we see that Angel's mom also lies dead on the floor. Angel says that he's won: "I've proved who had the power here." Darla says, "Your victory over him took but moments, but his defeat of you will last lifetimes." Apparently Angel's not the only one who's been waiting around for someone to invent therapy. Angel asks, "What are you talking about? He can't defeat me now." "Nor can he ever approve of you," Darla responds. If I can take a page from Wing and Sars: WE GET IT, ALREADY! Darla tells Angel, "What we once were informs all that we have become. The same love will infect our hearts, even if they no longer beat. Simple death won't change that." Angel looks around at the bodies of his family and asks, "Is this the work of love?" sounding genuinely curious. By way of an answer, Darla simpers, "Darling boy. So young. Still so very young."
Kate places flowers at her father's grave while Angel watches from the shadows of a nearby crypt. Pretty extensive sewer systems they've got in that cemetery. Kate leaves, and the camera pans down over the gravestone, allowing us to learn that her dad's name was Trevor. Oh, it also says "Beloved father" paralleling Angel's gravestone, and allowing us all to spend the rest of the week wondering what exactly that coincidence is supposed to signify.