Previously on Angel, Lindsey was established as a smirky evil lawyer in search of a comb, and Gunn made a nice entrance.
Two soldiers do a belly-crawl along the sidewalk, their guns blazing forth with...colored light. Geez, I know the WB is not the network you watch for production values, but this is ridiculous. Oh, wait, they're just toys that some sidewalk salesman is showing to some kids. Never mind. A woman walks along the street towards the salesman and the easily-impressed children. She's wearing sunglasses, even though it's dusk, and tapping a white cane against the sidewalk. As she gets close, the salesman asks her to stop, and then moves some other toys out of her way. That was very gallant of him. She goes on, tap-tapping her way past an alley. You know, what with her glasses and the cane and the guy's odd behavior, I'm starting to wonder if maybe her vision is impaired in some way. If only they would spell that out for us in some obvious way, so I could be certain.
Flash inside a warehouse, as a body goes flying through the air. When it crashes to the ground, we can see that it's a vampire. Angel appears, ready to stake the vamp, but another one suddenly attacks him. The stake rolls away as the first vampire picks himself up. Angel manages to punch one vamp while simultaneously kicking the other. Then there's more punching and kicking and one vamp is dusted. Angel wrestles the other one back, wraps a chain around him, hoists him to the ceiling, and sends him swinging onto a convenient pile of lumber. Poof. Awfully complicated, but I guess it worked. Someone wails in pain. Not me, though. Not yet. We see a black man crawl out onto the floor from somewhere and collapse. Angel examines the body and then hears footsteps approaching. He turns, and that's when the woman we saw earlier grabs him by the throat and hurls him against a wall. Still more fighting, only this time Angel's opponent manages to bend backwards or sideways every time he swings, ducking each blow. She, on the other hand, manages to land a few punches. Her sunglasses are knocked off, and she's got spooky white contacts underneath so that she doesn't seem to have pupils. Well, except where you can see them through the contacts. We get some spooky-girl POV shots which reveal that she sees Angel as a blur of colorful moving shapes. She tosses him through a wooden partition and by the time Angel climbs out, she's gone. Angel: Now in spooky-vision. Credits.
A frustrated Wesley shuts his Encyclopedia Demonica and complains, "Demons with one eye, demons with twelve eyes. Some with double vision. No blind demons." Cordelia is typing away at the computer, ignoring him, maybe because, like me, she isn't sure why Wesley thinks the woman was a demon. Wesley wonders if Angel has discovered a new species, and Cordy asks, "What, Helen Kellerus Homicidalus?" Then Wesley speculates that perhaps the woman isn't a demon at all, saying, "Perhaps she merely learned to hone her senses around her disability. Angel said it was as if she anticipated his actions before he carried them out." Instead of, say, anticipating them afterwards? Cordy says, "A handy skill. In a fight, or on a date." She logs on to "LAPD Online," as she speculates, "Someone like that kind of stands out in a crowd. For an assassin, I mean. Maybe even have [sic] a record." She types "blind woman murder" into the "police crime & criminals database." Yeah, right. Moments later she announces that the woman's name is Vanessa Brewer. They look over her police record. Which they pulled up online. By using the LAPD's handy search engine. Fine. ["Maybe now that Willow doesn't hack anymore, Cordy's picked up that skill?" -- Wing Chun] Anyway, Vanessa has been connected to various murders and assaults, but has never been convicted, and is currently out on bail while awaiting trial for a double homicide. Cordy says, "But that's not the real whammy. Look who's defending her."
Cut to Lindsey telling the judge, "The district attorney's attempt to link my client, Ms. Brewer, with this brutal crime would be laughable if it weren't so sad." He goes on along those lines as Angel steps in through the courtroom doors, looks around, and then flings something toward the front of the room. From her seat, Vanessa reaches her hand up and neatly catches her sunglasses. Angel's just like Atticus Finch, isn't he? No, he isn't. To prove it, he shoves a bailiff out of the way and scampers off while the judge bangs his gavel. Did Angel think it would be helpful if he gave Wolfram & Hart cause to ask for a mistrial?
Angel returns to the office, Wesley lectures the audience about vision, saying, "In a sense, the human eye is only capable of registering a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum." Yeah, a very small portion. Like, only the part we call, "visible light," you giant dink. He goes on to wonder if Vanessa is able to see things we can't. Maybe she can see gamma rays, Wesley. Cordelia incisively wonders if anyone actually cares how Vanessa can do what she does, and also wants to know why they're still discussing the subject. Angel answers, "Because Wolfram & Hart are representing her pro bono. Which means she's probably still working for them." Hm. Nope, still doesn't make me care. But thanks for trying, Cordy.
At the Wolfram & Hart building, Lindsey watches as Vanessa pals around with some bigwigs. Speaking of wigs, Lindsey's managed to get his hair out of his eyes for a change. Lee steps up behind Lindsey and says, "I can't believe you got her off on all charges." I was so busy getting mad about something else that I almost didn't notice this, but shouldn't it be "cleared of all charges" or just "got her off." I mean, you don't say, "the lawyer got them off on some of the charges." And if nothing else, any sentence where you've got the words "off" and "on" right to each other probably should be rethought. Okay, having complained about that, here's the big one: Lee. Lee is there looking all chipper and dapper and perky, as if he hadn't been beaten to a bloody pulp, with a wired jaw and in a neck brace, when we last saw him in "Sanctuary." Which was how long ago in the show's timeline? Well, no one's going to be able to answer that one, but the point is, it was not long enough for Lee to make this amazing full recovery. Moving on. Lee calls Lindsey "the man of the hour," then comments about how "hot" Vanessa is, and if I knew what the point of this exchange was, I'd tell you. Finally, a bigwig notices Lindsey, and waves for him to come over. As more congratulations are bestowed, Vanessa takes Lindsey's hand and holds it a moment before thanking him. Vanessa strolls off, and the bigwig asks if he can chat with Lindsey. I'm just gonna call him Mammon until a better name presents itself.
Mammon and Lindsey step into a conference room, and as he closes the doors, Mammon asks, "Does she unnerve you?" Lindsey says, "A little." Mammon rubs his back and says, "Two minutes alone with that woman and I feel like my spine's been fused." Mammon says that Lindsey looks stressed, and Lindsey admits he's been working hard. Mammon says, "That's a big part of it, the perspiration. But the other part -- the inspiration -- you've had kind of a rough year on that end." Brief recap of how Lindsey hired Faith to kill Angel. Mammon says that he's fond of Lindsey, adding, "I'd like to see you moving up here." He adds, "This is kind of our, uh, harvest time of year, where we separate the winners from the, uh, dead weight." Note the menace-laden words preceded by "uh," and scream, "We get it!" along with me. Mammon speculates about why Lindsey is feeling dissatisfied: "You're a young man, you've hitched your wagon to our star. Oh, and it's a bright star." Yes, yes. Bright. Star. Of morning, perhaps? Who does that remind us of? An evil being of some sort? Exactly, and that would be the script editor. Mammon concludes, "But now you're starting to feel a little, 'Is that all there is?'" Lindsey admits he questions things sometimes, and Mammon interrupts to say, "I did a lot of crazy things when I was your age. Searching, and all. It took me a while to realize how the world was put together, and where I belonged in it. And actually, the world isn't that complicated. It's designed for those who know how to use it." Smiling amiably, Mammon tells Lindsey to think about these things, because Lindsey won't be happy until he finds his place "in the scheme of things." Mammon pats Lindsey on the shoulder and says, "Enough of the old guy's lecture. Now, back to business: I don't think [that] she had a happy childhood." Mammon insists that Vanessa was abused as a child, telling Lindsey that "the details of that are tragic and shockingly specific, and I think you should create them."
Lindsey catches on that Vanessa's about to commit another crime, and that he should prepare a psychological defense. He asks what she's going to do, and Mammon says, "There are some children arriving, and they pose a threat." When Lindsey hesitates, Mammon asks if this is too shocking for him to deal with. Lindsey says it might be too much for a jury, and Mammon responds, "Which is why, I'm thinking, her terrible, terrible childhood drove her to it. Not guilty by reason of insanity." Mammon goes on to reassure Lindsey that the odds are against Vanessa's even getting caught. Lindsey nervously asks who the children are, and Mammon says that Lindsey doesn't need to know. Directing Lindsey to "get right on it," Mammon strides out, leaving Lindsey to stare out the window thoughtfully. This Mammon guy might be interesting if he didn't seem so much like a faded Xerox copy of the Mayor from the season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Angel picks the phone up off his desk and throws it against the wall, emoting anger and frustration and perhaps a little bit of constipation. Wesley and Cordy nervously step into his office. Angel tells them, "They acquitted her. Hung jury." Say again? Because those two things contradict each other. Angel grumbles, "How am I supposed to fight evil if they won't even put it behind bars?" I'm a little confused, since last time I checked, Angel usually focused more on killing evil than putting it behind bars. Cordy says that it isn't Angel's fault, and resists adding, "Or even your case, for that matter." Angel is too excited about having a new thing to brood over to consider whether it make sense or not. He says, "She's guilty, and they let her go. She murdered a man right in front of me, and I can't even testify to that fact in a court of law." Um. As I recall, Angel heard a noise, found a dead man, and then was attacked. That's not really the same as witnessing the crime itself. Cordy, missing the point, not that I blame her, says that maybe Angel could testify in night court. Angel scratches the back of his head, perhaps trying to channel some of James Dean's angst, and says, "It's their courtroom, not mine." Cordy guesses that he means "The Wolfram & Hart types." Wesley tells Angel, "Our battle will be fought elsewhere." Angel gripes, "It's still their world, Wesley. Structured for power, not truth." Angel is a bit too old to get all flustered upon discovering the world is imperfect. He goes on, "It's their system, and it's one that works. It works because there's no guilt. There's no torment. No consequences. It's pure." Shivery music alerts us to a little hint of Angelus in the dialogue. In case we missed it, Angel says, "I remember what that was like. Sometimes I miss that clarity." Cordy nervously asks, "But..not the trying-to-kill-your-friends-and-family part, right?" Finally concluding his rant, Angel slumps down in a chair and says, "Nothing ever changes." As if on cue, the door opens, and Lindsey steps into the office. He tells Angel, "I need your help." For some reason, after all that setup, Cordy fails to say, "Well, that's a change already!" Lindsey explains, "I want out."
During the commercial break, Johanna says, "I like it better when Angel is quiet and brooding, instead of talking a lot and not making any sense."
During the commercials, it appears that Angel reset the lighting in his office to "creepy" and dismissed Wesley and Cordelia. Lindsey says, "You probably think this is some kind of trick." Angel asks Lindsey if he's afraid that Angel might kill him. Lindsey says he isn't, and Angel says, "I'm smelling a whole lot of fear." For some reason, he's chosen a growly lounge-lizard seductive tone of voice for this line, which makes me laugh a lot. But wait, there's more: Angel adds, "Big. Stinky. Mortal. Terror." Which would be an excellent band name. Once I finish laughing at this excruciating dialogue, I hit "play" again, and Angel finally answers the original question by saying that Lindsey wouldn't be so frightened if it was a trick. Lindsey says that he doesn't want to ask Angel for help, but he has no choice. Naturally, Angel has to point out that one always has a choice, and, still with the crazy Swinging Czech Brother cadence, tells Lindsey, "You sold your soul for a fifth-floor office and a company car." Lindsey gets snippy, and says Angel doesn't know everything about him, and then demonstrates that he knows a lot about Angel: "What was your father? He was a merchant, right? Linen and silk. Did pretty well. Had a couple of servants -- till you killed them." Angel tries to act unfazed, and corrects Lindsey, "Just the one." Lindsey continues, "I guess it's fair to say that you've never seen anything like real poverty." Okay, he was a law student, not a history major, but shouldn't Lindsey realize that someone who lived in Europe in the eighteenth century is more likely to have seen "real poverty" than anyone born and raised in the modern United States? Lindsey goes on whining about being poor. "No shoes, no toilet. Six of us kids in a room, and come flu season, it went down to four." Every year? Where'd they get two new kids every year to replace the ones they'd lost? I start to wonder if Angel and Lindsey are competing to see which of them can be most annoying. Lindsey still ain't done: "I was seven when they took the house. They just came right in and took it. And my daddy's being nice, you know? Joking with the bastards while he signs the deed." Well, it goes on, but you get the idea. Lindsey winds up by explaining that he swore he wouldn't end up like his dad. Angel suddenly twitches, acting as though he was drifting off to sleep, and says, "I'm sorry, I nodded off. Did you get to the part where you're evil?" Lindsey, realizing a moment too late that the story of his life is actually rather dull, finally gets to the dang point. He tells Angel that Vanessa has been hired to kill some children. Angel asks, "What do you know." Lindsey answers honestly, "Almost nothing." Angel indicates that some actual information would be kind of helpful. Lindsey suggests that the records would be in the vault at the Wolfram & Hart building, and Angel tells Lindsey to go get 'em. Lindsey says he can't, "Other companies have drug testing -- they have mind readers. I go back there, they're gonna kill me." Angel decides to stiffen Lindsey's resolve, if you know what I mean, and tells him, "You're panicking right now. You can't believe how bad you let things get. That's not change. You have to make a decision to change. That's something you do by yourself." He neglects to add that when it's time to change, you've got to rearrange. Lindsey asks if he has to get himself killed to convince Angel that he's changed. Angel answers, "It's a start," because God forbid there be any unpredictable dialogue on this show.
Lindsey shows Angel, Cordy, and Wesley a map of the Wolfram & Hart building and explains where the vault is, adding that he'll leave his pass hidden nearby, so that Angel can use it to get inside. Cordy asks why Angel is helping, since she "thought born-again boy was gonna do it." Lindsey explains that the vault is guarded by a Preggothian demon which would kill him. Wesley says he'll put together a "battle profile" of the demon for Angel. Lindsey says he will take care of the security monitors, but then realizes something: "They have shamans. They can sense the moment a vampire crosses the threshold." Angel thinks for a second and says, "That's not gonna be a problem." Cordy foresees doom. Not with a vision or anything, she's just skeptical. Lindsey says, with a oddly cheerful look on his face, "The righteous shall walk a thorny path." Samuel L. Jackson bursts in and punches him before declaring, "And I shall strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger, those who attempt to rip off my characters!"
Cut to Gunn, perched on the back of his truck as he tells Angel, "Yeah, I can get a hold of one. But why would I want to?" Angel suggests, "In the interests of justice, and maybe doing the right thing." Gunn says, "I'm not really interested in some rich guy's heartbreak." Word. Angel does some back-seat aiming as Gunn practices using that crazy Acme stake-shootin' gun of his. After a moment, Gunn says, "Give me one good reason." Angel says, "It'll be extremely dangerous." Gunn smiles, says, "Okay," and nods happily. Hee! I like Gunn.
Lindsey enters the Wolfram & Hart building, armed with a fine pair of sunglasses. In the sewers, Angel starts cutting through the ceiling with a blowtorch. He, too, is wearing dark glasses. Okay, technically, they're protective goggles. And hey -- Angel's wearing a tie again. The more layers of clothing between his chest and my eyes, the happier I am. Lindsey enters a basement hallway and is startled when Lilah steps out of a room labeled "Back Records." He asks if she's doing research, and she answers, "Only when I want it done right." Huh? Wasn't that a simple yes-or-no question? As he steps into the room, Lilah says suspiciously, "I was under the impression that you never touch a book anymore." Lindsey calls on his powers of charm and says, "If the amoebas find out [that] you're willing to read, they lose all respect for you." Lilah appears to accept this answer and walks away. A moment later, Lindsey sneaks out of the room and continues on his way. Angel with blowtorch. Lindsey sticks his ID card on the underside of a fire extinguisher case. Blowtorch. Angel finishes cutting, and after checking his watch, lifts out the hole he's made in the metal ceiling. Wesley looks around the lobby. Angel checks his watch. Do you think time is important to their plan somehow? Lindsey enters the security office and is greeted by a guy named Howard. There is also someone in a red hooded robe, huddled in a corner of the room. Lindsey talks to Howard about office security while checking his watch. On the monitors we see Gunn enter the building, making hooting noises.
Gunn steps to the center of the lobby declaiming, "Damn, here it is! Evil white folks really do have a Mecca!" Hee again! Security guards start to approach him, and when they're still several yards away Gunn screams, "Ow! Did you just step on my foot? Was that my foot you just stepped on? Are you assaulting me, up in this haven of justice? Somebody get me a lawyer, 'cause my civil rights have seriously been violated." The guards and office workers stare as Gunn continues, "You can cater to the demon, cater to the dead man, but what about the black man?" He looks at his watch, and adds, "I'd love to stay and chat, but --" before calling to two guys lugging a large bundle into the building. Angel pulls himself up into the building from the sewer.
In the security office, the hooded thing suddenly lifts up its head and starts squealing and squeaking. Howard picks up the phone and says, "We have a vampire on the premises," while, on the monitor, Gunn's friends place the bundle on the floor. Gunn opens the bundle, smiles and turns to leave as an annoyed vampire pops out, hissing unhappily. The guards chase it around a corner. Howard watches the battle on one monitor, and Lindsey oh-so-casually glances at another, which reveals Angel retrieving the security pass from the fire extinguisher. Lindsey presses a button, changing the monitor so that it shows an empty hallway, and tells Howard, "Looks like you've got your hands full," before excusing himself.
The vamp is cornered by a gang of the guards, who press a button on their batons causing stakes to pop out of the ends. Hey, I want one of those! The vamp fights a little longer, but is finally staked. Angel uses the security card to open the vault, and hears a growl behind him. He turns, and punches the poor little Preggothian demon, who is just doing his job, after all. The demon picks itself up and rushes him, and Angel blows some pink pixie dust into the demon's face. The demon stops, and Angel taps one finger on the demon's forehead, causing it to fall backwards stiffly, because that joke hasn't ever been done before. Brushing off the remaining pixie dust, Angel says, "Thank you Wesley," and then picks up his briefcase before entering the vault. On the walls are masks and weapons and shelves holding elaborate boxes and so forth. Angel goes over to a row of drawers and begins looking through them. Back upstairs, Lindsey steps off the elevator and runs into Lee, who wants to know what all the excitement is about. "Never a dull moment," Lindsey jokes, and for some reason Lee is amused by that, and leaves. Angel drops a few piles of zip discs into his briefcase and closes it. As he turns to leave, his attention is captured by a wooden easel, on which rests a kaleidoscope. Or a wooden tube of some kind. But I'd like to think that it's the Kaleidoscope of the Gods. The music of potential revelation fills of the soundtrack as Angel stares at it, and finally opens his briefcase again. As he picks up the kaleidoscope and drops it into the briefcase, alarms sound. Oops. A grate begins sliding down over the door, so Angel gets to be all Indiana Jones again and dive under it before it slams shut.
Lindsey's cell phone rings. He answers it, and Angel says, "We're done. Get out now." Angel jumps back down into the sewer and off he goes. Lindsey is hurrying for the elevators when he stops suddenly. Two guards walk down the hall toward him, and Lindsey casually turns around and stops again upon seeing Lilah. She looks around at the people being herded toward them and asks, "Can you believe this? It's a sweep. I'll never make my lunch." Lee joins them and sees Mammon strolling along with two black women with interesting scalloped haircuts. He asks what's going on, and Lindsey says, "Mind readers." Gee, if Lindsey was at all likable or interesting, I'd be very concerned about him during the commercial break. As it is, though, I just feel a little bit sleepy.
Lilah, Lindsey, and Lee march into the conference room along with some other people; let's call them Linda, Larry and Leo. Lee wonders, "Shouldn't we have been memoed [sic] or something?" Lilah points out, "That's why they call them random mind readings." She pulls out a cell phone and cancels a one o'clock meeting. The mind readers stare at Linda, then step sideways to face Lee. Then Lindsey. And then Lilah. I know that dragging things out like this can only mean that either Lilah or Lee also has a dirty secret. Finally, the mind readers walk to the other side of the room with Mammon for a whispered conversation. Mammon turns around and says, "Well, I have to say this is a shame. It's just a shame. Whenever I hear of disloyalty it, uh, hurts me." He nods to a guard, who steps behind the lineup, and steps in front of Lindsey before continuing, "But this sort of thing must be dealt with quickly and cleanly." He looks at Lindsey for a second, then turns to Lee and adds, "And unambiguously. I'm sorry, Lee, I truly am." Lee starts to protest as Mammon says, "You've been in secret talks with Klein & Gabler." Mammon says that Lee was going to jump ship, and take some of Wolfram & Hart's clients along with him. Lee says, "I just wanted Klein & Gabler to think --" and is cut off when a bullet goes through his brain. Blood splashes onto Lindsey's face and collar. Mammon turns away and says, "Terminating an employee is never pleasant. That's all." As everyone starts to march out, Mammon asks Lindsey to stay behind.
Angel arrives at the office and says, "Lindsey?" Wesley asks, "He's not with you?" Cordy, in an orange peasant blouse, and wearing what appears to be a string of pebbles around her neck, comments, "That can't be good." She asks if Angel will go back for him, and Angel says, "If he made it out, then he'll be here. If he didn't, then there's no reason to go back for him." Angel opens his briefcase and pulls out the disks, handing them over to Cordy. Wesley picks up the kaleidoscope and asks Angel what it is. Angel says he isn't sure, and Wesley opens it, revealing that it's actually a case containing some scrolls, and not a kaleidoscope at all. Pity. Wesley says the writing is "ancient Aramaic." Thank goodness it isn't that trashy, modern Aramaic. He asks if there was some reason Angel picked it up, and Angel says, "Yeah," but then clarifies that he's not really sure what the reason is. Wesley says he'll get to work translating the writing, but Cordy interrupts to say, "Guys? Might want to translate this, first." Cordy's computer monitor shows "Wolfram & Hart" at the top, but the two text windows below the heading are full of gibberish. Wesley says that the files are encrypted. Wow, just like on Adam's files on Buffy the Vampire Slayer earlier tonight. When exactly did these supernatural action shows become retooled versions of Whiz Kids?
Lee's body is dragged out the door by some guards, leaving a puddle of blood on the carpet. Maybe they should wrap something around his head before dragging his body around and leaving a blood trail everywhere they go. I bet that's what Martha Stewart would do. Mammon sits down and looks at Lindsey, asking, "Are you afraid?" After Lindsey nods, Mammon says that's understandable: "You betrayed this firm by aligning yourself with someone who has given us a great deal of grief. You've stolen important documents from our vault to try to sabotage an extremely important case. And in the course of this egregious behavior, you lied to us. More importantly, to me." Mammon explains that if he nods to the guard behind him, Lindsey will be shot. Lindsey says, "I didn't want to lie to you. I didn't want to betray you. I just wanted out." Mammon says that Lindsey is having a "crisis of faith." He asks, "Do you believe in love? I'm not speaking romantically. I'm talking about that sharp, clear sense of self a man gains once he's truly found his place in the world." This is some strange new definition of the word "love" with which I am unfamiliar. Mammon says, "Most men are cowards and just move with the crowd. Very few make their own destinies. They have the courage of their convictions, and they know how to behave in a crisis." Mammon tells Lindsey that he could be a success at Wolfram & Hart, but he doesn't know where he belongs, and so they both have questions to answer. He explains, "Now, my first one is, do I nod to my friend behind me? No, I don't. Because I know you, and I know a little something about character. I think what you actually need is a few days off to think about it, and I'm sure once you have, you're gonna do the right thing." Lindsey asks if he can go, and Mammon says he can. As Lindsey stands up, Mammon tells him, "I believe in you. Look deep enough inside yourself, [and] you'll find that love."
A minimal blipvert returns us to the office, where Cordy is on the phone. Johanna and I had jokingly thought, "Maybe they'll call in Willow to help with the encrypted files." ["Hey! Great minds!" -- Wing Chun] Turns out, Cordy did just that. Because Cordelia is on such good terms with Willow, so it makes sense for her to do that, instead of maybe Wesley. And plus, I really believe that Willow could tell Cordelia how to hack some files over the phone, without even seeing them. Wesley comes in with this episode's minimum quota of coffee, and Angel tells him, "She's been on the phone for an hour and forty-five minutes." Cordy stops talking to Willow to ask, "Guess what they've been doing all day?" "Saving the world?" guesses Wesley. Cordy says, "Well, yeah," as in, "duh," and continues, "But they've been breaking encrypted computer files, too." Willow asks something, and Cordy tells her, "Just Wesley." After clicking the mouse, Cordy stops to tell Wesley, "Willow says 'hey.'" Instructions are relayed, and it's just too desperately boring to describe. Then, poof, the monitor reveals text windows reading "secure database" and some menus. Cordy thanks Willow, and hangs up.
Wesley pulls up Vanessa's file and reads us the highlights: "She lost her sight when she was twenty-one." Cordy reads along and announces, "On purpose. She did it to herself." It's Angel's turn to read, and he says, "She spent five years in Pajaur, studying the Nanjin. Which explains her power." For the benefit of Cordelia and the rest of the world, Wesley explains that the Order of the Nanjin are a group of monks who "believe [that] enlightenment is found with the heart, not the mind." Cordy asks if "self-mutilating psycho assassin chick reached enlightenment." Wesley answers, "Of a kind. She'd be more sensitive to her surroundings than even a sighted person, which is what would make her an unstoppable foe." I am distracted by the realization that Angel's shirt fastens with a zipper. It's like a sweatshirt or something, with a weird collar. Has Cordy been buying his clothes?
Anyway, Angel says that no one is unstoppable, and asks what Vanessa's current assignment is. Wesley pulls up the file and reads the highlights, but I think I'll just tell you what it actually says on the monitor: "Intercept and terminate the three seer children who have been found in remote locations around the world. The three blind seers together have the power to see into the heart of things. Individually their power is limited, but together their abilities increase exponentially. Moreover, their power is expected to increase as they mature, representing a severe threat to our interests. Fortunately we have been able to obtain details of their movements upon arrival in this country, making them uniquely vulnerable at this time." Lindsey wanders in as they mull over the details, saying, "Sorry I'm late. Hope I didn't worry anyone." Not bothering to glance at him, Cordy says, "We just figured you were dead." Lindsey says that Wolfram & Hart will soon find out which files were stolen, so they have to act quickly, and asks when the children will arrive. Wesley says, "According to this, they arrived this morning." He adds some more details, and once again, it's more interesting to just go to the original source. The text on the monitor reads: "The subjects are expected to arrive on the morning of 28 April 2000 and will be kept in a safe house apartment with a guardian until they can connect with their mentor, who will arrive from the East that night. It is imperative that these children be prevented from reaching their full potential and this threat warrants deploying our most trusted operative. They will be very difficult to reach once they have connected with their mentor. The safe house is at 317 Elisabeth Street, apt. 2C, Los Angeles. They will be at their most vulnerable during this one day." For anyone still trying to make sense of the timeline, April 28th was a Friday, if that helps. Angel tells Wesley and Cordy to try and intercept the mentor: "Keep him away from that house. We'll bring the kids to him."
A man brings a tray holding sandwiches, apples, and some mugs of what might be chocolate milk into a living room where three kids sit on the floor. There's an Asian girl, a Middle Eastern boy playing with an etch-a-sketch (heh), and a typical white male. All three kids have glazed white eyes like Vanessa's. The man sets the food down and strolls out of the room happily, and is promptly stabbed. He looks down to see a white stick being pulled out of his chest, and then collapses. I get very irritated when I see that the captioning reads, "[Vanessa humming Three Blind Mice]." Because she isn't; there's just more buzzing suspenseful music. It'd be much creepier to hear her humming Three Blind Mice. That sucks. The kids sit quietly as Vanessa steps into the room and smiles, before we go to commercial.
Vanessa starts to move toward the kids, then whirls as Angel grabs her and shouts, "Get the kids out of here!" Lindsey runs over to the kids. Vanessa shoves Angel away and attacks Lindsey. We see Vanessa's point of view again, as she fends off the colorful blurs of Angel's attacks. Angel and Lindsey get pummeled some more. Vanessa picks up her stick and approaches the motionless kids, who she sees as pale purple shapes. She thrusts the stick backwards into Angel's stomach, and they fight some more. After being thrown against a wall, Angel lies motionless on the ground and watches as for the first time Vanessa seems unable to figure out where he is. He jumps up, she sees him for a second and then he vanishes again as he stops moving. She stares into blackness, then a quick flash of color as Angel's fist smashes into her face. Okay, if she can only see motion, how come she could see the kids? Anyway, Angel goes on punching and staying still and generally bewildering Vanessa for a while. At one point, she stands a foot in front of him, her stick aimed directly at his crotch. Go Vanessa! She lifts her head toward his and as she starts to attack, Angel grabs the stick and skewers her. Lindsey comforts the kids as they experience their first blipvert.
Angel broods in his office. Wesley comes in and says that the kids were taken to their mentor. He adds, "They have an important role to play," and handing over the scrolls, says, "I believe this is how Wolfram & Hart knew of their coming." Wesley says that the scrolls are the Prophecies of Aberjian, and that he might know why Angel felt compelled to take them. He says, "There's an entire passage about you. It doesn't call you by name, but it tells of a vampire with a soul." Does it describe him as dreadfully boring, too? Because if so, that's definitely Angel. Angel ponders this, or thinks about whether his laundry's done yet, or maybe he just stares blankly into space. Wesley asks, "This doesn't surprise you?" and Angel admits that it doesn't. Wesley says, "There is a design, Angel, hidden in the chaos as it may be, but it's there, and you have your place in it." Angel seems remarkably free from curiosity about what exactly the passage about him says. You'd think he'd ask about that.
Mammon is packing up his office when Lindsey enters and calls him "Holland." Holland? What a dull name. Lindsey says, "I'm sorry. I did what I had to." Holland says it was very noble of Lindsey to save the kids. Lindsey says, "I brought the disks back," placing them on Holland's desk. Holland assumes that Lindsey copied them first, and Lindsey says, "A few things. Just enough to keep me safe." Holland asks what being safe means. Lindsey says, "Not being at war with Wolfram & Hart. Having my own life." Holland shakes his head and says, "No one has their own life. We're all part of something larger." Holland tells Lindsey that he hand-picked Lindsey while he was a sophomore at Hastings, because he thought Lindsey had potential: Potential for seeing things as they are." He explains, "It's not about good or evil; it's about who wields the most power. Now we wield a lot of it here and, you know what? I think the world's better for it." He observes, "You walked in that door and called me by my first name. You never did that before. You wouldn't have had the nerve. But you're different now. You stood up to us, and won. Do you know how many people have that much nerve? I can count them on one hand. We need people like that working for us." Lindsey, confused, asks if Holland is offering to give him back his job. Holland says no, "I'm offering you a new job. A permanent one. With a thundering raise and ungodly benefits." Ooh, "ungodly." Geddit? Holland goes on, "In fact, I'm offering you this very office. I'm going upstairs." He grins, and adds, "What I'm offering you, Lindsey, is the world. Now I know you pretty well, and I'm betting you're gonna take it." Holland picks up his final box of office decorations and starts to head out the door. Lindsey says, "You may not know me as well as you think you do." Holland smiles and says, "As I've been trying to tell you, that's a decision that each person has to make for himself." This episode was written with some kind of non-sequitur generator. He says, "If you want it, it's yours. If you don't, walk out this door. I'm going upstairs now." He leaves, and Lindsey leans against the desk. After a moment, he heads for the doors, and I think we were meant to think that he was just preparing to close them as he left, so it would be a huge surprise when he instead stayed in the office and closed the doors, while the soundtrack squealed with the feedback of sudden plot twists. As I say, I think that's what was meant to happen, but I'm not sure. Since very few people use the inner doorknob to pull a door shut from the outside, I wasn't that surprised. Anyway, he closes the doors and takes a seat at the beckoning desk of power and evilness. Then he takes the phone off the hook and turns to look out the window for a nice bit of brooding. On a rooftop somewhere, Angel stares out at the city and broods right on back.