Reprise

Previously on Angel, Angel was bitter, Lindsey caught the attention of his superiors, Holland croaked, a zombie shot Wesley, and Kate expressed low job satisfaction.

We open in a hallway in an abandoned building. We zoom and zoom and zoom in on a old baby doll in a grocery cart. Aiiieee -- dolls are spooky. Angel walks down the hall. We hear strange squawking noises in the distance. Angel enters a room, turns on the light, and finds himself surrounded by goats. Heh. Visual gags are fun. Angel goes into a neighboring room. Inside, a man asks, "What's ?" His partner starts reading instructions: "Be sure all troths are securely fastened, and sacrifices tilted, as shown in diagram F12, to ensure full drainage into sacred offering bowl." We finally see that there's an older guy with his back to us, presumably following instructions, while a younger guy reads and grabs more tools. The older guy is ready to slit the sacrificial offering's throat. And -- hey, that's David Fury! Thank you, Mr. Fury, sir, for rescuing Spike from the forces of redemption! You're my hero. The second guy is now looking for the "pre-blessed ceremonial dagger." Fury suggests looking under the packing material. Angel finally attracts their attention by saying, "You know, I, well, really couldn't help but notice the goats." They're understandably startled to see him. Angel walks toward them, doing a Xander impression -- "Lotta goats. Goats. Many." He even does Xander's eyebrow-wiggle thing. Was that intentional? 'Cause if so, it was a great impression. If not, do they all have the same acting coach training them how to be wacky? The younger guy notices that Angel is holding their sought-after dagger. Angel promptly bends it against a wall, and confirms that they're working for Wolfram & Hart. He wants to know who the sacrifice is to, but Fury won't tell. Angel does one of his faster-than-light moves and is suddenly vamp-faced and holding the two guys pinned against the wall. Fury says, "Look man, we just get paid to do the slaughtering and say the prayer." They explain that they don't know who the prayer is directed toward, because it's written in Latin. They just were told to "sound it out." Heh. The younger guy adds, "The sacrifice has gotta be done by midnight or something out there's gonna get real pissed off." Angel snarls, "Good," and lets them go. They scamper out the door as Angel begins smashing everything in sight. Bye, Mr. Fury! Come back again!

During the credits, I call Johanna and we both agree that Angel was doing a Xander impression. Scooter has no opinion. He's outvoted. I also fill her in on Buffy, since she missed it: "Nothing happed for fifty-seven minutes, and then Joyce died." "It's about time!" Then the show starts again, and we hang up.

The MoG are proudly showing off the deoculated Stephanie to her mom. The girl looks delighted, although she's still mute. Mrs. Sharp looks as scary as ever. We'll get to Cordy's clothes in a little while. Mrs. Sharp says that she can't thank them enough, and when the MoG try to downplay things, she explains, "We can't pay you, either." It seems that her hubby declared that "it's impossible to be bitten by a demon, and to have a third eye grow on the back of one's head, [so] obviously, you people are running some sort of scam." That sentence was designed to hurt me. So many clauses. Curse you, Tim Minear! As she drags Stephanie out the door, Cordy shouts, "'Scam'? The back of your kid's head was blinking!" Wesley notes that the Sharps are having trouble accepting "the grim reality that Skilosh spawn nearly hatched, full-grown, out of their child's skull." He says that with a wonderful matter-of-fact tone, I admit. Then he perkily suggests that maybe the Sharps will change their minds. No one else shares his confidence. Gunn heads for the door, explaining that he's going to check out his old neighborhood: "I'll do more good there than sitting around here with you two." No doubt. Off he goes. Bye, Gunn. See you week, I hope.

At Wolfram & Hart, the joint is buzzing. Lilah runs into Lindsey as he heads out to lunch. Lilah says that everyone's panicked because the big review is in two days. She hands Lindsey a manila envelope full of information about the last "seventy-five-year review." Why every "seventy-five years? Does that strike anyone else as a weird schedule? She says "It makes the Christmas purge of '68 look like fun old times." It seems that, at the last review, half of mid-management was sacked. With actual sacks. So, Lilah is worried, and thinks they should perform some last-minute sacrifices. Lindsey isn't, and doesn't. Because, I bet, he just can't seem to care. There's a lot of that going around. Lilah pressures him, "I heard Henderson actually pulled her first-born out of company day care to offer it up to...Brown-noser. My mother was right. I should have had children." Heh. Lilah reminds us that Drusilla & Darla are still roaming the streets, and asks whether Lindsey's heard from them. Lindsey avoids the question. Lilah worries some more and leaves.

At the station, Angel is babbling to Kate about all the rituals Wolfram & Hart are performing, and how he can't figure out what they're working toward. He's having this conversation with her in the station. With other people all over the place. Dark, vengeful, bitter Angel doesn't bother me, but for some reason his total lack of discretion does. No reason for it, really. Anyway, Kate's not all that intrigued by the wacky Wolfram & Hart shenanigans. She asks Angel why figuring this out is important to him, and he answers, "Because it's important to them." He asks her for help, and Kate finally snaps that she can't help him with anything, because she's "on desk duty pending the hearing on Friday." Apparently the captain Angel beat up last week blames Kate for "granting access" to Angel. Um? Okay, I guess Angel got into the office after hours, and since Angel was there earlier with Kate, they rightly or wrongly assume she let Angel in? I'm not entirely convinced that makes sense, but I'll accept it. Angel says, "He was raising zombie cops and setting them loose on the streets!" Kate chuckles and points out that she probably can't offer that as an explanation. She sorts through more papers and folders as she mutters things like, "I'm a cop, that is all I've ever -- I can't take a suspension, I would just --" Get a whole sentence out, Kate. You can do it. Angel says he's sorry, and Kate manages, "Are you?" She doesn't see Angel look to one side in a way that isn't quite an eye roll, but it's close. She adds, "'Cause they might just want to know about this, too," and pulls out photos of the Wolfram & Hart slaughter at Manners Manor. Angel tells Kate that she had nothing to do with that. She points out that she picked Angel up for making threats at the Wolfram & Hart offices, and then she let him go. Forensics has told her that the suspects were locked in the wine cellar with the victims, so, basically, she's figured out what happened. She bitterly concludes, "And I think I am done helping you now." Off she stomps. I didn't forget about Cordelia's shirt. Be patient.

By Strega

At the station, Angel is babbling to Kate about all the rituals Wolfram & Hart are performing, and how he can't figure out what they're working toward. He's having this conversation with her in the station. With other people all over the place. Dark, vengeful, bitter Angel doesn't bother me, but for some reason his total lack of discretion does. No reason for it, really. Anyway, Kate's not all that intrigued by the wacky Wolfram & Hart shenanigans. She asks Angel why figuring this out is important to him, and he answers, "Because it's important to them." He asks her for help, and Kate finally snaps that she can't help him with anything, because she's "on desk duty pending the hearing on Friday." Apparently the captain Angel beat up last week blames Kate for "granting access" to Angel. Um? Okay, I guess Angel got into the office after hours, and since Angel was there earlier with Kate, they rightly or wrongly assume she let Angel in? I'm not entirely convinced that makes sense, but I'll accept it. Angel says, "He was raising zombie cops and setting them loose on the streets!" Kate chuckles and points out that she probably can't offer that as an explanation. She sorts through more papers and folders as she mutters things like, "I'm a cop, that is all I've ever -- I can't take a suspension, I would just --" Get a whole sentence out, Kate. You can do it. Angel says he's sorry, and Kate manages, "Are you?" She doesn't see Angel look to one side in a way that isn't quite an eye roll, but it's close. She adds, "'Cause they might just want to know about this, too," and pulls out photos of the Wolfram & Hart slaughter at Manners Manor. Angel tells Kate that she had nothing to do with that. She points out that she picked Angel up for making threats at the Wolfram & Hart offices, and then she let him go. Forensics has told her that the suspects were locked in the wine cellar with the victims, so, basically, she's figured out what happened. She bitterly concludes, "And I think I am done helping you now." Off she stomps. I didn't forget about Cordelia's shirt. Be patient.

Lindsey arrives home. He starts talking to an unseen guest, apologizing for being late and so forth. He sits on the couch and asks, "How do you feel?" and we finally see Darla's there, curled up under a blankie. She's got a burn on her face, but she's mostly healed. She weakly simpers about the way Lindsey saved her, and the two of them explain to the audience that, after the Angel barbecue, Drusilla visited Lindsey and told him where to find Darla. Darla moans that Drusilla is gone, and when Lindsey says, "She'll be back," Darla says, "You're the only one who hasn't abandoned me." Lindsey is a big sucker. Well, a rather petite sucker, actually. With one hand! Ha ha! He hands over a big bottle of blood to Darla, who eagerly unscrews it as Lindsey gets up to go take a shower. Darla rasps, "You're never dirty." As Lindsey walks toward the bathroom, he says, "I'm always dirty." Darla rolls her eyes with me, and that gives her one redemption point. As soon as Lindsey shuts the door, Darla hops up and starts poking through his bag. She pulls out the manila envelope and begins perusing the contents as she casually pulls at her bottle of blood. I liked that.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14

Johanna: Cordelia's shirt was made of MOSS!
Strega: Damn you! You were supposed to say, "Hello," and then the first thing I was going to say was, "Cordelia was wearing a lawn!" After I hung up before, I realized what she was wearing, and I almost called you back immediately.
Johanna: I almost called you, too! But I figured it could wait.
Strega: Yeah. It's not like you wouldn't have noticed it unless someone pointed it out.
Johanna: How can she not notice her clothes are growing?
Strega: Well, she's poor, right? Maybe she's making her own clothes now. week she'll wear something made of bark.
Johanna: Or rocks!
Strega: This is all going in the recap, you know. Oh, it's back on.
Johanna: Bye.

A pair of lawyers (they aren't demons, so they must be lawyers, right?) are singing "Reunited." During the ads, Cary managed to sneak away to a table, but Angel sits down to him demanding more details. He's awfully contrary. First he wanted a one-word description; now he wants details. Angel says he's not asking Cary to reveal anyone's destiny, "but getting to these Senior Partners, that's [his] destiny." Cary isn't so sure about that. He tells Angel not to worry about all the rituals Wolfram & Hart is funding: "They're nervous children trying to score as many brownie points as they can before daddy gets home. I got news: Daddy? Not impressed." Angel tries again: "What is it, and how do I stop it?" Cary's answer is, "I don't know, and you don't." He admits that, because a demon has to take on a form to manifest in our dimension, it can be killed. "Kinda the down side of being here. That, and the so-called musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber." Angel stares at him silently, trying to be the dour yin to Cary's raging gay yang. I think Cary likes annoying Angel, so this is actually a smart move. Faced with a complete lack of exasperation, Cary caves, and tells Angel that one thing he did pick up while doing is readings is something called "the Band of Blacknil." And one other thing: "Home office." I'm guessing that this is about a new rock group that works out of their house. I could be wrong. Angel gets up, but Cary calls him back. "I am picking up one other thing. They'd really like to see you dead." Angel turns to look at a horde of lawyers glaring at him. Their combined staring power summons a blipvert.

It's a thrilling scene of Angel paging through books back at the hotel. And going from room to room, looking for more books. He's probably looking for the one he threw on the floor last week.

Angel stomps through the door of the MoG office. Wesley's in a wheelchair, Cordy's at the desk. So they're like Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, except Grace Kelly never wore a lawn. Wesley nervously asks, "May we help you?" Angel's not feeling chatty. He goes right over to their library and starts searching through it. Wesley tries to take charge, insisting that the bookcase is for employees only. Angel complains that they took all the books. Cordy says, "Yeah, well, you got the waffle iron." Angel finds the volume he was looking for and turns to leave, but Cordy grabs it away from him and goes to reshelve it. She says, "You can't take this -- I, I, I'm in the middle of it. Here, take this one!" She hands him the yellow pages. Angel throws the Yellow Pages down, gets into Cordy's personal bubble, and says, "Don't make me move you." OoooOOoooo. That's no good at all. Which means that it's very, very good television. Dear Tim Minear: Please keep a little of this creepiness later, when they all inevitably reunite. Please. I'll be your best friend. Cordy looks stunned, but she's holding firm as only Cordy can. From his wheelchair, Wesley quietly says, "Give him the book, Cordelia." Cordy keeps staring at Angel, and finally Wesley jumps up and shouts, "Just give him the damn thing! Let him get the hell out." Angel looks down at Cordy with about three inches between their heads. I know it doesn't make for good recappage since they're just looking at each other, but wow. Lots of icky tension. Cordy finally shoves Angel back, grabs the book, and slams it into his chest. Angel turns for the door again. As he walks out, Cordy bitterly says, "I don't even know what you are anymore." Angel calls back, "I'm a vampire. Look it up." Wesley slowly sits down as Cordy growls, "What a jerk." She says that with a catch in her throat, and, well, I'll stop going on about it, but Charisma Carpenter is selling every part of this scene. Wesley calls her, but Cordy has to go off on an obligatory fit that "if it was anybody else, I'd just say 'get laid, already,' but no, not him." Exposition about the whole Angelus bit. We know, so I'm skipping it. Wesley keeps saying "Cordelia..." and finally, more desperately, tries, "Cordelia! Ambulance?" Cordy finally looks at Wesley and sees that blood is oozing through his shirt. And dripping. Which seems like an unlikely thing for blood to do when there's a whole shirt to absorb it, but what do I know?

Blipvert to the police station. Kate's hearing isn't going well. She's isolating herself from the force, she's focusing on bizarre cases, and she didn't take any time off after her father's murder. The board offers her psychological counseling as part of her severance package. Kate turns in her gun and badge. As she heads for the door, one of the hearing-board guys offers a final vicious knife wound to the ego: "I'm just glad your father's not around to see this." That was needlessly mean. Oh, wait, that's sorta the theme. Oh, wait, that comes later.

By Strega

Angel stomps through the door of the MoG office. Wesley's in a wheelchair, Cordy's at the desk. So they're like Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, except Grace Kelly never wore a lawn. Wesley nervously asks, "May we help you?" Angel's not feeling chatty. He goes right over to their library and starts searching through it. Wesley tries to take charge, insisting that the bookcase is for employees only. Angel complains that they took all the books. Cordy says, "Yeah, well, you got the waffle iron." Angel finds the volume he was looking for and turns to leave, but Cordy grabs it away from him and goes to reshelve it. She says, "You can't take this -- I, I, I'm in the middle of it. Here, take this one!" She hands him the yellow pages. Angel throws the Yellow Pages down, gets into Cordy's personal bubble, and says, "Don't make me move you." OoooOOoooo. That's no good at all. Which means that it's very, very good television. Dear Tim Minear: Please keep a little of this creepiness later, when they all inevitably reunite. Please. I'll be your best friend. Cordy looks stunned, but she's holding firm as only Cordy can. From his wheelchair, Wesley quietly says, "Give him the book, Cordelia." Cordy keeps staring at Angel, and finally Wesley jumps up and shouts, "Just give him the damn thing! Let him get the hell out." Angel looks down at Cordy with about three inches between their heads. I know it doesn't make for good recappage since they're just looking at each other, but wow. Lots of icky tension. Cordy finally shoves Angel back, grabs the book, and slams it into his chest. Angel turns for the door again. As he walks out, Cordy bitterly says, "I don't even know what you are anymore." Angel calls back, "I'm a vampire. Look it up." Wesley slowly sits down as Cordy growls, "What a jerk." She says that with a catch in her throat, and, well, I'll stop going on about it, but Charisma Carpenter is selling every part of this scene. Wesley calls her, but Cordy has to go off on an obligatory fit that "if it was anybody else, I'd just say 'get laid, already,' but no, not him." Exposition about the whole Angelus bit. We know, so I'm skipping it. Wesley keeps saying "Cordelia..." and finally, more desperately, tries, "Cordelia! Ambulance?" Cordy finally looks at Wesley and sees that blood is oozing through his shirt. And dripping. Which seems like an unlikely thing for blood to do when there's a whole shirt to absorb it, but what do I know?

Blipvert to the police station. Kate's hearing isn't going well. She's isolating herself from the force, she's focusing on bizarre cases, and she didn't take any time off after her father's murder. The board offers her psychological counseling as part of her severance package. Kate turns in her gun and badge. As she heads for the door, one of the hearing-board guys offers a final vicious knife wound to the ego: "I'm just glad your father's not around to see this." That was needlessly mean. Oh, wait, that's sorta the theme. Oh, wait, that comes later.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14

By Strega

Remember Denver, the guy from the bookstore who helped Angel in "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been...?" Also known as, "that one with the really long title that didn't entirely make sense?" You probably do remember him, since they made a big point about him in the "previously"s. Good. Well, he's older, obviously, but he's still watching sitcoms in his bookstore when Angel wooshes in. And Denver remembers Angel. As they both -- can you stand it? -- look through books, Denver says that Angel changed his life. Apparently seeing a vampire work to save humans convinced Denver that there must be some good in the world after all. He asks how things went with the Thesulac demon. Angel distractedly mentions, "I don't know, I think he killed everyone there." Denver is a little thrown by that, but insists, "The point is, you tried." Angel says, "Actually, I pretty much walked out and let the demon have the place and everyone in it." Heh. That was mean, too. And he just tosses it off, so casually. After hearing how important it was for Denver. Good stuff. Denver's really thrown now, but Angel returns to his new obsession: getting to the home office. Denver says that the Senior Partner will probably take the form of a Kleynach demon, because then "they can come and go as they please with that ring." "Ring"? Why, yes, the Band of Blacknil. It's not a new rock group at all. In fact, it gives the demon the power to move between dimensions. Angel perks up at that news, and asks if he could use the ring to get to wherever the demon came from. Denver says he probably could, but, by gosh, that would be crazy! He finally catches on, and says, "You're gonna try to go down there and destroy the whole lot of 'em, aren't you?" Angel changes topics from his deathwish to getting the ring. But Denver says that, to get the ring, Angel will have to kill the Kleynach. And to kill the Kleynach, he'll need a glove. Angel declares, "Okay, now you're making this up." I snickered a lot at that line. This whole thing reminds me of an Infocom game. Denver pulls out another book and reads that all who fought the Kleynach demons were incinerated "whether they struck with fist or sword." Anyone else wonder how a Kleynach would fare against a bazooka? But they were defeated when someone grabbed their throat with a special glove, blah blah mystical forces-cakes. Denver briefly leaves the room and comes back with a silvery gauntlet. He says, "Picked it up in '75 at a yard sale in Covina. Been using it as an oven mitt. Now, I give it to you." If he uses it as an oven mitt, why is it at the bookstore? Does he have an oven back there? Did he move in, as he threatened to do back in the '50s? If so, how did Angel get in? Whaddya mean it was just a throwaway joke? No, I don't need to lie down for a little while. I'm fine. Really. Okay, I'll move on. Sheesh.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14

By Strega

Right, so Denver presents the glove to Angel, and makes a little speech. "The truth is, you did change my life, and I got a feeling this time, things are gonna go --" Well, naturally, that's when there's a clanging noise and blood pours out of Denver's mouth. He gasps, "-- better," as he drops the glove, revealing a sword blade poking through his stomach. Angel moves to catch him, and the sword is rammed forward into Angel. Shishka-vamp! Darla appears behind Denver and smirks, "That's right, Angelus. Go towards [sic] the bleeding mortals. Because that's smart." Angel collapses to the floor with Denver on top of him. Darla picks up the gauntlet, allowing us to admire her black leather pants, and explains, "The ring's not about vengeance, Angelus. It's about power." She kicks Angel in the head and adds, as she heads out, "We'll get to the vengeance part soon." Angel pulls himself off the sword and expresses deep hurting. It is only at this point that I notice he's wearing a dark red shirt. Really, really dark, but still, it's not black.

I call Johanna again, and I don't remember what we were talking about until the show starts and -- gaaaaaaaaaaah! Johanna says, "Close the robe!" Every part of my being would agree, if I could speak. Wesley's lounging on his sofa at home, wearing a robe that is open to reveal his bandaged midsection and also the, uh, part of him that's above his midsection. Shudder. I make a pledge that for the rest of the season, I will not complain about seeing Angel's chest. At least not in the recaps. Unless I change my mind. Anyway, he's bragging to Virginia about standing up to Angel, and she suggests that maybe he could have skipped the part where he literally stood up and popped his stitches. They continue discussing the fact that she's used to demons and magic, but not to regular old shootings. Wesley says, "The gun was fired by a zombie, if it makes you feel any better." It doesn't. She scooches in and cuddles up against that still-open robe, and talks about whether the battle is worth fighting. She says that other people "don't have to wrap themselves in bandages to keep their insides from falling out." Virginia asks whether Wesley could ever give up the evil-fighting. Wesley delicately asks, "Could you be with someone who would?" I was hoping Wesley would say, "Remember our conversation when I got fired? I'm not really suited to any other work." But no. Virginia says, "I don't know. But sometimes I feel like I should be wrapped in bandages to keep my insides from falling out." I was wavering on Virginia, but anyone who'd say something that hokey needs to go. Wesley pets her for a minute and finally says, "This is difficult for you, isn't it?" Virginia says she doesn't like seeing Wesley get hurt, and Wesley says, "No, I mean breaking up with me." Go wrap yourself in bandages somewhere else, Virginia. Don't let the medicine cabinet door hit you on the way out.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14

As Cordy gets ready to leave, the phone rings again. She complains, "Jeez, Wesley, Zippedy-doo-dah, all right?" Hee. But it's actually Mrs. Sharp. Apparently she's decided she will pay them. Cordy says she'll stop in, on her way home, for the money. After hanging up, Mrs. Sharp turns toward the big pale demon standing to her and says, "Um, one of them is on their way here now." The demon reaches out and strokes Mrs. Sharp's hair, then snaps her neck. Interesting. Is this a Skilosh mommy, or daddy, upset about their aborted spawn? A Wolfram & Hart mercenary? Random evil? If you pause at the right moment of the ensuing blipvert, there's a nice shot of the demon: he has serrated ears and red war-paint markings on his skull. Hm.

Wolfram & Hart. Everyone's gathered for the big review. Guys are waving incense over a big chalk drawing. Reed tells Lindsey that it doesn't look good that Lilah isn't there yet. A security guy leans in and whispers in Reed 's ear, and Reed replies, "Well, find it. Deal with it." He explains to a curious Lindsey, "Someone just let a vampire onto this floor." Lilah stumbles into the crowded room with Angel to her. Lindsey points at Angel and brays, "There!" Lilah elbows Angel in his wounded tummy and dashes away. Angel runs out. Lindsey runs after him. Reed calls for Security. Angel pops up again, and I think we're supposed to understand that they aren't able to spot him in the crowd, but the first time I watched this I just thought, "What, is he invisible?" I mean, yes, there are a lot of people, but I think the one wearing a leather trench coat instead of a suit is probably going to stick out a bit. Angel hurries up behind a woman in a red dress as he pulls a bottle out of his coat. He pops the lid off and grabs the woman by her hair, which turns out to be a dark wig with which Darla has disguised herself. Angel throws the holy water in her face and shouts, "Vampire!" The crowd gasps and scatters as Angel starts trying to pull the gauntlet off Darla's hand. While Lindsey looks surprised, Angel and Darla fight. Security men jump in and try to stake Darla, but she fights them off and attacks Angel. Lindsey continues to express surprise. Meanwhile, Reed falls to his knees as a blurry patch on the floor transforms into the long-awaited Senior Partner. Which has talons and a big red hooded robe. Angel finally gets the gauntlet, and security tackles Darla to the floor. Lilah calls, "Stake the bitch," and Lindsey promptly punches her. Angel puts the gauntlet on. Lindsey shoves the security guy out of the way before Darla is dusted, and punches him too, for good measure. Angel runs forward and launches himself at the Senior Partner, his hand grasping where its throat presumably is, under the big hood. If you pause at the right second, its face is a bony skull with big teeth. Or maybe that's just what it looks like when it's dissolving. Angel and the robe crash through the window and plummet down. Darla and Lindsey dash toward the doorway. Darla turns and gives Lindsey a significant look before running away. Lindsey turns, and it's Lilah's turn to give him a significant look. Lindsey, it might be time to leave, before Reed gives you a significant look. Because after that, I suspect, you're dead.

By Strega

At the MoG office, the phone rings. Cordy has changed out of her garden shirt. Although this one is cut in the same style. Maybe it is the same shirt, and she mowed it. She answers the phone, "Good evening, [mumble] Investigations?" Wesley asks what the mumbley sounds were, and Cordy explains, "There are just some names I'm not saying at the moment." Wesley says he's not feeling well, and he may stay home tomorrow. Cordy agrees, "You should stay home. Spend time with Virginia." Oooh, that's gotta smart. Wesley recovers, and tells Cordy she should get out of the office, too. Cordelia points out that she doesn't have any friends. What happened to those girls from "Expecting"? And all the guests she had for the big party in "She"? Wesley says, "That's not true." Cordy ponders this for a second and then frowns and says, "You don't count!" Wesley pretends to take offense, so she adds, "You know what I mean." Wesley assures her that things will get better. Cordy says she'll call him tomorrow, and she hangs up.

As Cordy gets ready to leave, the phone rings again. She complains, "Jeez, Wesley, Zippedy-doo-dah, all right?" Hee. But it's actually Mrs. Sharp. Apparently she's decided she will pay them. Cordy says she'll stop in, on her way home, for the money. After hanging up, Mrs. Sharp turns toward the big pale demon standing to her and says, "Um, one of them is on their way here now." The demon reaches out and strokes Mrs. Sharp's hair, then snaps her neck. Interesting. Is this a Skilosh mommy, or daddy, upset about their aborted spawn? A Wolfram & Hart mercenary? Random evil? If you pause at the right moment of the ensuing blipvert, there's a nice shot of the demon: he has serrated ears and red war-paint markings on his skull. Hm.

Wolfram & Hart. Everyone's gathered for the big review. Guys are waving incense over a big chalk drawing. Reed tells Lindsey that it doesn't look good that Lilah isn't there yet. A security guy leans in and whispers in Reed 's ear, and Reed replies, "Well, find it. Deal with it." He explains to a curious Lindsey, "Someone just let a vampire onto this floor." Lilah stumbles into the crowded room with Angel to her. Lindsey points at Angel and brays, "There!" Lilah elbows Angel in his wounded tummy and dashes away. Angel runs out. Lindsey runs after him. Reed calls for Security. Angel pops up again, and I think we're supposed to understand that they aren't able to spot him in the crowd, but the first time I watched this I just thought, "What, is he invisible?" I mean, yes, there are a lot of people, but I think the one wearing a leather trench coat instead of a suit is probably going to stick out a bit. Angel hurries up behind a woman in a red dress as he pulls a bottle out of his coat. He pops the lid off and grabs the woman by her hair, which turns out to be a dark wig with which Darla has disguised herself. Angel throws the holy water in her face and shouts, "Vampire!" The crowd gasps and scatters as Angel starts trying to pull the gauntlet off Darla's hand. While Lindsey looks surprised, Angel and Darla fight. Security men jump in and try to stake Darla, but she fights them off and attacks Angel. Lindsey continues to express surprise. Meanwhile, Reed falls to his knees as a blurry patch on the floor transforms into the long-awaited Senior Partner. Which has talons and a big red hooded robe. Angel finally gets the gauntlet, and security tackles Darla to the floor. Lilah calls, "Stake the bitch," and Lindsey promptly punches her. Angel puts the gauntlet on. Lindsey shoves the security guy out of the way before Darla is dusted, and punches him too, for good measure. Angel runs forward and launches himself at the Senior Partner, his hand grasping where its throat presumably is, under the big hood. If you pause at the right second, its face is a bony skull with big teeth. Or maybe that's just what it looks like when it's dissolving. Angel and the robe crash through the window and plummet down. Darla and Lindsey dash toward the doorway. Darla turns and gives Lindsey a significant look before running away. Lindsey turns, and it's Lilah's turn to give him a significant look. Lindsey, it might be time to leave, before Reed gives you a significant look. Because after that, I suspect, you're dead.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14

Another overhead shot shows the elevator shaft morphing into fiery CGI hellishness. Angel says, "You're not gonna win." Holland turns to him and says, "We have no intention of doing anything so prosaic as winning." That gets Angel's attention. "Why fight?" he asks. Holland says that there is no fight for them, and no winning or losing; they simply are. "Our firm has always been here, in one form or another," he says. Now he's Kosh. Holland says, "We're in the hearts and minds of every single living being, and that, friend, is what's making things so difficult for you. See, the world doesn't work in spite of evil, Angel. It works with us. It works because of us." Fits in nicely with the theme of The Lucifer Principle, which I've just been rereading for the third time. The hellavator stops, the doors open, and Angel looks out at...the city street outside the Wolfram & Hart building, complete with homeless guy. I bet Angel's annoyed at how long that ride took, considering where he wound up. "Welcome to the home office," Holland smirks. Angel whispers, "This isn't..." Holland assures him that it is. "You know that better than anyone. The things you've seen. The things you've...well, done. See, if there wasn't evil in every single one of them out there, they wouldn't be people. They'd all be angels." Angel's big eyes get all teary, which was a bit over-the-top for me. Although it is kind of neat to see a recognizable expression on his face. The gauntlet falls off of Angel's hand as he wobbles out of the hellavator. Holland calls, "Have a nice day!" as the doors close again.

Okay, then there's a long, long montage of people being mean to each other as Angel walks along the streets. Although you could argue that it's a montage of people with bad haircuts, and that Angel looks so sad because he's worried that maybe his hair is also silly-looking. We also see Kate popping some prescription pills, and more bad haircuts, and Wesley curled up on his sofa, staring into space, and Cordy getting ready to leave the office -- finally! Wasn't she leaving, like, an hour ago? It finally ends, after a minute and fifteen seconds. I think it might have been better at half that length. Or less. After thirty seconds, I felt the need to start shouting, "Okay, we get it, everyone gets it, let's move on, please."

Angel gets back to the Hyperion just in time to hear Kate leaving a message on his answering machine. "You did it, didn't you? You bastard." We see Kate lying on the floor to a bottle and a pile of medication. She mutters, "No, it was me. I couldn't take the heat. That's what they're gonna say. And you're gonna feel all bad, or you won't care. Then I, I won't care either. I won't feel a thing." Angel reaches and clicks the volume down, or maybe turns the machine off. It's hard to tell.

By Strega

Wow, a whole hell of a lot happened just then, didn't it? And I'm not saying it wasn't fun, because it was, but here are my questions. How'd Angel know that was Darla? Was he just counting on her to wear a red dress? And how'd Darla get in without triggering security? Or did she arrive at about the same time Angel did? Each of them would have figured the other would be there, so that's fine, but the timing seems like it'd be awfully tricky. Finally, when are Wolfram & Hart going to learn to put thicker glass on their windows? You'd think they'd have done that after Angel shoved ol' Russell through one of their windows back in "City of."

When we come back, we see hands inside the elevator, clapping. Angel walks toward the elevator and we finally see Holland inside. Hi, Holland! He congratulates Angel on his victory. Angel questions Holland's status among the living, and Holland explains, "I'm quite dead. Unfortunately, my contract with Wolfram & Hart extends well beyond that." He tells Angel to get in the elevator. "Home office, wasn't it?" he asks, as he reaches for the elevator buttons. Angel stares out at the homeless guy and some other extras as Holland pushes the button and says, "It's rather a long ride." Overhead shot of the hellavator (tm ScrunchyDrums) going down. Inside, tinny musak plays. Heh. Holland says, "Well, this is exciting, isn't it? Going straight to the source. So, what's the big plan, Angel? Destroy the Senior Partners? Smash Wolfram & Hart once and for all?" Angel admits that he plans something along those lines. Holland asks what Angel hopes to accomplish. Angel says, "It'll be the end." Holland tries to draw him out, but Angel insists, "In the larger sense, I really don't give a crap." Holland disputes that, saying that Angel wouldn't be doing this if he didn't care at all. He says that Angel is supposed to prevent the apocalypse, saying, "It's true [that] we do have one scheduled. And I imagine, if you were to prevent it, you would save a great many people. Well, you should do that, then. Absolutely. I wasn't thinking." For a weird moment, Holland is eerily reminiscent of Kevin Spacey. Holland goes on to say that the people Angel saves will be able to look forward to the apocalypse: "But hey, it's always somethin', isn't it?"

Another overhead shot shows the elevator shaft morphing into fiery CGI hellishness. Angel says, "You're not gonna win." Holland turns to him and says, "We have no intention of doing anything so prosaic as winning." That gets Angel's attention. "Why fight?" he asks. Holland says that there is no fight for them, and no winning or losing; they simply are. "Our firm has always been here, in one form or another," he says. Now he's Kosh. Holland says, "We're in the hearts and minds of every single living being, and that, friend, is what's making things so difficult for you. See, the world doesn't work in spite of evil, Angel. It works with us. It works because of us." Fits in nicely with the theme of The Lucifer Principle, which I've just been rereading for the third time. The hellavator stops, the doors open, and Angel looks out at...the city street outside the Wolfram & Hart building, complete with homeless guy. I bet Angel's annoyed at how long that ride took, considering where he wound up. "Welcome to the home office," Holland smirks. Angel whispers, "This isn't..." Holland assures him that it is. "You know that better than anyone. The things you've seen. The things you've...well, done. See, if there wasn't evil in every single one of them out there, they wouldn't be people. They'd all be angels." Angel's big eyes get all teary, which was a bit over-the-top for me. Although it is kind of neat to see a recognizable expression on his face. The gauntlet falls off of Angel's hand as he wobbles out of the hellavator. Holland calls, "Have a nice day!" as the doors close again.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14

By Strega

Okay, then there's a long, long montage of people being mean to each other as Angel walks along the streets. Although you could argue that it's a montage of people with bad haircuts, and that Angel looks so sad because he's worried that maybe his hair is also silly-looking. We also see Kate popping some prescription pills, and more bad haircuts, and Wesley curled up on his sofa, staring into space, and Cordy getting ready to leave the office -- finally! Wasn't she leaving, like, an hour ago? It finally ends, after a minute and fifteen seconds. I think it might have been better at half that length. Or less. After thirty seconds, I felt the need to start shouting, "Okay, we get it, everyone gets it, let's move on, please."

Angel gets back to the Hyperion just in time to hear Kate leaving a message on his answering machine. "You did it, didn't you? You bastard." We see Kate lying on the floor to a bottle and a pile of medication. She mutters, "No, it was me. I couldn't take the heat. That's what they're gonna say. And you're gonna feel all bad, or you won't care. Then I, I won't care either. I won't feel a thing." Angel reaches and clicks the volume down, or maybe turns the machine off. It's hard to tell.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14

Provenance
Original URL
http://www.brilliantbutcancelled.com:80/show/angel/reprise/
Captured
2015-10-30
Page Type
recap (100%)
Wayback Machine
View original capture

Historical archive · About · Takedown policy