Previously on Angel, Holtz skewered Justine's hand, Angel shoved her, and Wesley probably bled on her nice jacket. Holtz took the baby away, proving he's not so bad after all. Angel did not try to open a portal to Quor-Toth, but they sure seem to be trying to convince us that he did. Connor came back, having completed sixteen years of acting lessons from Holtz. Ten points to anyone who can identify the source material for the index-page blurb for this episode, by the way. And also my deep, profound sympathy.
It's the same night that the last episode ended with, and Angel still hasn't returned to the hotel. You know, this is the third episode in a row set immediately after the preceding one. At this point, they've all been up for at least thirty hours. But to their credit, they're bustling around full of energy. Fred wonders why Angel hasn't called on the cell phone, and Cordy points out that Angel may not know how to use the thing. They start planning to go out looking for Angel, because they're worried that something else came out of the Quor-Toth looking for Connor. More on that in a moment. Cordy shushes everyone as Angel steps inside, still limping a bit from the shotgun blast he took. Angel reports that he found Connor, and that they talked. Gunn confirms that it really was Connor, and Angel mopes, "His name's Steven now." No one has a response to that, and understandably so. Fred asks where Connor is, and Angel says, "Not sure. But he knows where I am. He'll be fine." Everyone hastens to correct Angel, blathering that something may have come through the rift before they got it closed. Angel's not too concerned, since they don't know for sure whether anything besides Connor came calling. Fred worries that that some horrible monster could be coming after Connor, which is a strange thing to assume, and also a strange argument. I mean, if a nasty monster came through, it's probably a danger to everyone, so that's something to worry about, but there's nothing to make them think that Connor was being chased or hunted. Anyway, Angel says that Connor "survived Quor-Toth this long. He can take care of himself." Fred sniffs, "So he survived an unspeakable hell dimension -- who hasn't? But you can't just leave him all alone on the streets of Los Angeles!" Angel maintains his Zen, or maybe he's just too tired to care, and insists that Connor will come back "just as soon as he realizes he needs the same thing in this dimension that he needed in the other one." For no readily apparent reason, Cordy finishes that thought, "A father."
"A room," Connor says, by way of correction. Actually, he's just getting a motel room for himself and Holtz. Holtz is looking very Night of the Living Dead. That makeup is really, really terrible. And unnecessary -- he needs to look sixteen years older, which would put him at what? Maybe sixty? Certainly not one thousand and two. I really think gray hair and an extra wrinkle or two would have done the trick. Instead he's coated in latex, and it's like he and Connor had some Dorian Gray thing happening. Oh yeah: credits.
The morning at the French Cottage Motel -- which is neither French nor cottage-like -- Connor picks up a newspaper in the office and goes hunting for breakfast. He spots someone getting goodies from the vending machine, and goes over for a look. Ah: fish-out-of-water humor. At least it's understated. He presses a button. Nothing happens. Presses it again, more vigorously. Then he starts shaking the machine, and hefts it up, and we hear glass break as we cut away.
Connor returns to his room with his arms full of junk food, but Holtz is nowhere to be seen. For a second, until he comes out of the bathroom. I think maybe we were supposed to wonder if Holtz abandoned Connor, but it's such a short pause that I'm not sure what the point was. Holtz grabs the paper, eager to find out what date it is. "Days," he mutters, "We've only been gone an unspecified number of days." Connor gripes that he doesn't like being here, because all of his friends were back in Quor-Toth and he had his own room and a treehouse and the teachers were nice to him and there was a cute girl down the street. Holtz says, "I should have known that one day you'd find a way out." Connor dismissively notes, "The cracks were there already, I just made the Sluks show me." "Sluks" being the crawdads, by the way. So fine, I was wrong: Connor's the Destroyer. I guess I'll spend the summer being bitter about that. I was still right about Sahjhan, though! Pardon me, I just hate being wrong. Holtz is overcome with pride at his foster child's crawdad-herding skills. Connor goes on griping that Holtz shouldn't have followed him, insisting, "I would have come back to you. After I killed him." Then he apologizes for not killing Angel already, but Holtz waves that away, noting that Connor only kills to survive. Like Ted Nugent! Holtz hobbles over to Connor, because in the time Connor aged sixteen years, Holtz apparently aged five times that much. Holtz says that Connor escaped Quor-Toth because he wanted to see Angel. Connor walks away to pout, but Holtz adds, "There's no shame in it. I knew this day would come. That's why I never lied to you." Holtz says he's always told Connor the truth about his origins. Connor creepily sums his history up by saying, "God gave me to you." Justine is God? Actually, given how screwed-up she is, that explains a lot about the world. Holtz agrees, "God delivered you to me, that I might keep you safe." They exposition briefly about Angel killing Holtz's family, and Connor repeats that he should have killed Angel. The exposition is actually nicely worked in, because this dialogue has the ring of something they've repeated over and over, like it's Holtz's twisted catechism. Holtz says that's not how he raised Connor, and that there's more for Connor to learn. He creakily stands up and tells Connor to go back to Angel: "Discover what of him is in you, that you might fight against it. But be on your guard. Remember what I've taught you: the devil will show you bright things. Many colors." "Colors"? Has he seen Angel's wardrobe? That was nicely creepy, and then at the end it just became confusing.
Possibly because it's just to set up this shot of Cary holding a big polished hunk o' quartz. Oh man, it's this scene. Where they confuse science and magic again. You know, there are a lot of cool and interesting things to talk about in this episode, and this isn't one of them. Basically, Fred got a Geiger counter at a yard sale, and with this magic hunk of quartz inside of it, they can detect Quor-Tothian energy. Which they want to do so that they can track down whatever beasty may have come through the rift when Cordy and Groo were knocked out. It's all pretty nonsensical and requires Fred to spew more technobabble and the whole thing annoys me so that's all I'm saying about it. It's worth noting that Cary is finally wearing a suit again. Hooray! It's very red. I've decided that all of his clothes were probably burned up in Caritas, and that it's taken him a while to buy a new wardrobe. In fact, when he vanished for "Double or Nothing," he was probably out shopping. Shame he didn't buy something for Fred, because I think she's wearing one of Cordy's old shirts -- a pink sleeveless baby-doll number that seems to have been chosen for the way it emphasizes all of the wrong things about her figure. Cordy and Groo come in, and Cordy asks how Angel is. Gunn answers that Angel is "still being all mature" up in his room. Cordy goes up to talk to Angel, and Groo stares after her while a clarinet coos to make sure we get the picture.
Angel is "being all mature" by engaging in some cathartic boxing. He brought the punching bag up to his room. So that basement set really is history, I take it. Angel's also wearing a wifebeater, and since everyone's been griping about Boreanaz gaining weight, I have to say that I don't see it. Also, I hate you all for making me feel obligated to look that closely at him. Johanna and I spend some time arguing about whether Cordelia's shirt is completely made up of sheer ruffles, and if she's wearing something underneath it or not. Cordy tells Angel about using the Geiger counter to track monsters, and tries to cheer him up by noting that they may have something to kill later. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she chirps, and I wait for her to add, "Yes, you would! Who's a good boy, then? Wooja wooja." Angel grunts in response and goes on punching. Cordy finally tells Angel that he's doing the right thing. By boxing? "What if he doesn't come back?" Angel asks. Oh, that. Apparently Cordy has no response, because the scene ends there.
Groo's out in the courtyard, trying to mope because he thinks that's what Cordy likes in a man. Cary walks up and asks, "Something troublin' you, bubby?" Heh. Groo says he's confused, and I have to think that's his usual state of being. Groo says that Angel did everything he could think of to recover Connor, "but now that his son is here, he does nothing." Cary answers with a koan to the effect that "sometimes nothing is the best something," and says that Angel probably shouldn't force anything. Groo asks, "If a thing is meant to be, then how can it be forced?" When did this become Plato's Dialogues? Cary admits that it can't be, and Groo counters by wondering what one should do if something isn't meant to be. They're all so fatalistic on this show. Cary says, "Just 'cause someone hops a dimension or two is no guarantee things will work out." Groo smugs, and Cary catches on and notes that Groo is "sneaky with the subtext." Groo heads for the gate and says that if Cordy asks, he's gone for a walk. Then he repeats, "If she asks." Y'know, I did the exact same thing once. When I was sixteen. Wandering away to see if Cordelia misses him? I guess now that he's mastered snark, he's moved on to passive aggression. Go away, Groo.
Angel's playing with a globe up in his room while he chats with Cordelia. His room, by the way, is mostly cleaned up now, but one wall still needs to be repainted. I appreciate that. Anyhow, Angel's chattering that Connor feels further away than ever, even though he's back now. He says, "There was just so much I thought we'd be able to do together before he, y'know...." "Grew up?" Cordy asks. "Hated me," Angel finishes. Aw. No, that's a sincere "aw." And the beauty of it is, it's not clear whether he means that all teenagers hate their parents, or if he just expected that Connor would eventually hate him. Nice line. Cordy tries to comfort Angel by pointing out that Connor doesn't know Angel well enough to hate him, and upon realizing that's not the most inspiring thought, she backpedals, "But he will." Know Angel, not hate him. I assume. She adds that Connor will come back, "because he has to. Because he's family." Considering how close Cordy is to her family, that's not very convincing.
With that, we cut to Wesley's apartment, where Wesley is burning his fingers on his TV dinner. Bwa ha ha! He pours himself some wine to go with his entree, and I almost wish this scene went on longer, because I'm enjoying Wesley's ongoing humiliation so much. He hears his laptop beep, and goes over to discover that he's got mail. Actually, it looks like someone hacked into his computer and left a message on his notepad, but play along. The message reads, "782 W. Palm Terrace 8:30 PM. Come alone." Wesley stares at the computer, wondering if he should bother setting the VCR to tape Buffy. Because this episode takes place on a Tuesday. Look, I spent a few minutes working that out, so pretend you care.
Oh, damn, we're back to the Geiger counter nonsense. Fred wanders around going clackety clackety while everyone follows after her because they are starved for entertainment. The same could be said for us right now, I admit. Cary wonders, "Should we be wearing lead? 'Cause I actually have something." Fred follows the readings around the room, toward the door, where she gets stronger readings as she finally notices that Connor is standing in front of her. Fred babbles a little and finally shuts up before she scares Connor away. Everyone stares for a minute, and Angel tries for a casual "hey." Connor explains he just dropped by, and Angel turns and introduces everyone, then hints for them to clear out, which they do. Cute two-shot of Connor and Angel folding their arms uncomfortably while they try to think of something to say. Eventually Angel asks, "You hungry?" Connor very quietly asks what there is to eat, and Angel ponders that for a second before suggesting they go out to eat.
"WHAT?" Cordy shrieks. She returns from the office, shouting that there's a gang of vampires at a bar. Eventually we discover why she's shouting via a POV-shot. Cordy's effectively in the bar, as is Angel, so she's trying to be heard over the music. Angel says something that we can't hear as she goes on shouting that there's a girl who's in danger. I actually like the idea that she's now seeing the visions as three-dimensional environments. The bar background blurs away, and Angel tells her to slow down. Although she wasn't talking quickly, just loudly. Cordy repeats the news about a girl at a bar full of vampires, and Angel prepares to head out. Because how many bars could there be in Los Angeles? Cordy's visions haven't gotten any more useful, I note. Angel turns back to Connor and explains that he has to go. Connor does the rejected-teen thing and insists that it's fine as he heads for the door. Angel explains, "It could be kinda dangerous. A lot of killing and violence...You wanna come?" Connor stops and looks at Angel. Saw it coming, but still cute.
After the ads, we're at the bar Cordy saw. I guess Angel knew which one she meant. It's a very strange place. There are lots of girls dancing with glow-sticks. Is this a rave? We pan up to a balcony, where Wesley is looking at the crowd. Lilah approaches and notes that Wesley got her invitation. She says, "I thought the 'come alone' part was a particularly ironic touch. I mean, how else would you come?" Ha! I officially love her. Lilah's holding a martini glass, so I guess this is a rave. Because that's what they serve at raves. I learned that from Gossip. Wesley starts to push past Lilah, but she turns him back and points out someone at the bar. It's Justine. Wesley still wants to leave -- at least until Lilah says, "You'll miss her big death scene." She explains that Justine was tipped off that the club would be full of vampires tonight. Wesley spells out the fact that Lilah also told the vampires that Justine would turn up. Wesley dismisses the idea that he'd like to watch Justine get killed, saying, "You really don't know the first thing about me, do you?" Lilah agrees, and Wesley starts to walk away again. Lilah walks up behind him and hisses, "Like, will he go straight to his car, or will he stop to warn her first?" Wesley hesitates, and Lilah smugly says, "Has to think about it. That's good. That's all I really needed to know." She tells Wesley that he can leave, and I guess Wesley's as contrary as I am, because he immediately turns back. He asks whether it was a test, and Lilah says she just wanted to know if she was wasting her time. She adds that she'll have Justine rescued "before anything really lethal happens" so that Wesley won't have anything on his conscience. Wesley looks down at the dance floor and says that won't be necessary. Lilah takes a peek, and sees Angel moving through the crowd.
Angel tells Connor that this is his chance to kill some vampires, and hands him a stake. Johanna wonders how Angel got Connor into the bar. Me too. Maybe he bribed someone, and promised that Connor wouldn't have anything stronger than a Vanilla Coke. Angel tells Connor to aim the stake for the heart, and Connor grumps that he knows that. He's such a teenager. I like this whole bizarre dynamic, which surprises me immensely. I can't wait to see Angel teaching Connor to drive. Angel goes on nagging Connor about waiting to see the vamps' game faces, so that he doesn't accidentally stab a person and re-enact Faith's story. Gosh, Faith and Connor would be fun together, wouldn't they? They continue making their way through the crowd, and Angel spots Justine just as Connor demands, "Why do you do it? Why kill them if they're like you?" Justine sees Angel and stands up warily. Angel grouses, "They're not like me, Connor," and then Connor says his name isn't Connor, and Angel makes an exasperated face and tells Connor to stay where he is.
Justine tells the bartender she's done, but he disagrees, vamping out as he grabs her arm. The guy to her also vamps out and says, "She thinks she's a slayer!" The bartender adds, "She's about to learn different [sic]," and yanks her up onto the bar. Justine kicks a third vamp away, and Angel hurries over and stakes him. Connor watches, and you just know that he's dying to say, "Cool!" Angel stakes another vamp while Justine fights off the bartender, and then we go into the general kicking and punching. Wesley and Lilah are still watching upstairs as the crowd moves away from the melee. Justine screams, and Connor makes a big leap that I think is supposed to be over the people in his way. Angel looks up and enthuses, "Nice!" Heh. I usually hate it when he says that, but this time it was funny. Connor hops over to the bar and starts to rescue Justine. Angel is so distracted by watching Connor that he gets clubbed by a vamp before returning to the matter at hand. As Connor stakes the bartender, Lilah wonders, "Who's the boy wonder? He moves just like --" "His father," Wesley finishes. I guess that isn't really too unreasonable an assumption, given all of the other bizarre things Wesley's seen happen. Connor stands facing Justine for a moment, and they stare at each other before Angel yanks him away and tells Justine to go. She runs away as another wave of vamps attacks Angel and Connor. Upstairs, Lilah turns to mock Wesley some more, but he's gone. Angel and Connor demonstrate some nice teamwork, and then Connor runs off after an escaping vampire.
Connor steps out of a back door into an alley, his stake at the ready. After a moment of suspense, he suddenly twists around to attack someone behind him. Who turns out to be Angel, and luckily he grabs Connor's hand before the stake reaches its target. Y'know, Angel, I don't think it's a good idea to sneak up behind Connor. Angel suddenly punches Connor's forearm, which spins Connor back so that he unintentionally stakes the vampire who was suddenly standing behind him. That was hard to describe, but I think you get the idea. It was neat. Angel explains, "They don't need to breathe or make any sound. You gotta be careful." Johanna wonders if he really means that vampires don't ever have to make noise. She asks, "Do they have to consciously intend every noise they make? Like, 'footstep, footstep, footstep'?" I think maybe Angel was just exaggerating to make a point, because otherwise my head will start to hurt. Angel compliments Connor's fighting skills, and notes, "Normally I'd take you to a baseball game or a museum or something...It's just good to know [that] you can handle yourself in a fight." Then Angel playfully punches at Connor, and Connor jumps back and then smiles. He smiled! I don't think we'll be seeing him do that again for a while, so enjoy it. Connor goes on grinning, and punches back at Angel, and then they start horsing around, feinting at each other and laughing. Aw. I'm not so big on kids, but I'm a total sucker for dads. While they go on playing, we see Holtz step out onto a fire escape and stare at them.
Some time later, Connor is munching Oreos at the motel when Holtz returns. Connor looks guilty, and nervously says, "He was everything that you said. He tried to trick me. Thought he could deceive me by saving people. But it didn't work -- I've seen his true face." Holtz replies, "And I've seen yours." Uh oh.
Up in his room, Angel is telling Cordelia all about Connor's fighting prowess. See, here I like them together again. Because they're about four feet apart at all times. Angel concludes, "You should have seen us together," and Cordy replies, "I did." She explains that she went back into her vision and watched the whole fight. Angel is confused about that, as is Cordy, and as was I until just now, when I thought that maybe the vision continued because she was supposed to spot Wesley talking to Lilah. And was too distracted by the fisticuffs to notice him. I really, really hope that's what was going on, because that would be neat. Cordelia grins, "I saw the whole thing -- you and your son together. It was beautiful." With the slaughter and all. Angel looks happily bewildered, although I wonder if later he'll feel kind of creeped out at the idea that Cordy might be watching him at any time. I sure would.
Back at the motel, Holtz and Connor are arguing. Holtz says, "Anyone who saw you together would realize that's where you're meant to be. At his side." Connor angrily insists, "I don't need him!" Holtz tells Connor to return to Angel, and Connor's eyes get teary as he asks, "Why are you doing this?" Connor repeats that God gave him to Holtz, and Holtz says, "Now it's time for me to give you back." Connor says that Angel is a demon, and Holtz calmly replies, "And you're the bastard son of two demons." Johanna and I giggle. I mean, he is, but yikes. Connor wonders if he's a demon, but Holtz says he isn't, although he doesn't know what Connor is. He adds that, to find answers, Connor must return to Angel.
Sigh. Fred. And Gunn. They're outside the hotel in Gunn's truck, still tracking extra-dimensional radiation or whatever the hell they're doing. Who cares?
Connor goes on arguing with Holtz, but Holtz insists, "We were brought here by forces beyond our control." Connor jumps up from the table and stomps out of the room.
Gunn spots Connor, and he and Fred watch as Connor jumps off the second-floor walkway and down to the ground. Well, now he's just showing off. Connor runs away, and Fred says, "Looks like we've been following Angel's son's emissions the whole time." Ew. Gunn "ew"s too, and says, "There's a sentence I don't ever need to hear again." Gunn and I are like soulmates. Except for the being-in-love- with-Fred part. Fred goes on chirping that it's good news, since this means that "there was no big scary that came out of the portal." Gunn sees Holtz standing at the door of the motel room, and asks, "How 'bout a short scary?" Heeeeeey. Just 'cause you're so tall, that's no reason to pick on Holtz.
At the Hyperion, Cary pours himself what I'm going to arbitrarily guess is a Manhattan. Which is apparently his nightcap, since he's wearing a robe and pajamas. Cary turns to see Connor standing in the lobby, and offers to take him up to Angel's room. Connor stares sullenly at Cary. As Cary heads for the stairs, Connor growls, "I'm not going anywhere with you, demon." Cary stops dead and says, "Since you were raised in a hell dimension by a psychopath, and since that happens to be a topic I know a little something about, we'll just let that slide." He turns back to the stairs, and Connor says, "Filthy demon." Cary, frustrated, says, "That's Uncle filthy demon," and starts to yell at Connor, but Cordelia interrupts. She spoils everyone's fun. Especially the audience's. She leads Connor over to the couch and sits down to lecture him. Connor goes on staring at Cary with hate while Cordy explains, "'Demon' doesn't always mean 'evil' in this dimension. I mean, look at me. Well, I'm part demon." Connor looks at her curiously as she adds, "By choice." Oh, don't remind me. She starts to explain that she became demonized to help people, but before she can bore us all to tears, Connor pulls out a knife and lunges at her. Thanks, Connor. There's a very funny shot where Connor's expression is completely over-the-top, like he's suddenly become possessed by the spirit of Jack Nicholson. Maybe it was meant as another Batman reference. I dunno. Figure it out during the commercials.
When we return, Cordy starts glowing again. Dammit. I've had about enough of this. The glow travels up her arm, with which she's holding Connor's arm, and gradually encompasses Connor, too. The glow dissolves the knife blade, and mystical swirly noises fill the soundtrack, although it's hard to hear them over the sound of me complaining about how much I hate this. I guess Cordy's glow is a defensive thing that reacts when she's touching something threatening. How convenient. I further speculate that her glow is the magical power of extreme suckiness. Cordy says soothing things to Connor, and his rage is beaten down by the power of suck, and stamped out completely when Cordy says, "Let it go. You don't need that." Borne down under the weight of this awfulness, Connor slumps back and starts to cry on Cordy's shoulder. Poor Connor; he never realized how lame this show could be sometimes. They might need to put a suicide watch on him. He goes on crying while Cordy strokes his head, and looks a little bit guilty about unleashing her awesome power to suck all of the entertainment value from a scene. Connor finally calms down, and Cordy looks up to see Angel standing upstairs, looking at them. It'd be funny if he just wandered in and said, "Howdy. Whatcha doing?" But then he might get swallowed up by the suck himself. It's a really good thing that we've got the end of the episode to distract me from this. It wasn't even necessary to anything in the plot. Stupid.
Soon after, Angel chats with Cordy in the office. Cary steps in to marvel at Cordy's power to suck, and describes what Cordy did as "some kind of soul colonic." Well, at least we're both agreed that involves a lot of crap. Cordy adds some meaningless stuff to the effect that Quor-Toth "crept into every part of [Connor]; he was sick with it." Whatever. So now Connor's had all of his extra-dimensional freakiness washed off, but he still needs a good shampoo. Angel thanks Cordy, like it was a conscious choice she made, and can we move on now? Good.
Angel returns to the lobby and asks Connor how he is. Connor sighs, "I might have tried to kill your friend." Angel says, "She's used to it." Although he fails to add, "At least you didn't try to impregnate her." Connor wonders if he should go, and Angel gingerly sits down to Connor and suggests that he stay at the hotel. He says, "I know it doesn't feel like it yet, but this could be home for you." Connor gets teary again and whines, "I don't have a home." Angel insists that Connor doesn't remember it, but that the hotel was his home. Connor smiles bitterly and says, "You speak as though you're my father." Ouch. Angel folds his arms and tries to shake that off, but Connor continues, "He said we came back for a reason." Angel catches on and whispers, "Did he?" Gunn and Fred suddenly return to the hotel, and that seems like our cue to watch something else. Poor Gunn.
Holtz answers a knock at his door and opens it to find Justine. How'd she find him? Maybe he's been leaving her notes somewhere, and making all kinds of embarrassing admissions in the hopes that Justine will put him out of his misery. Though if Justine's anything like me, she'd go for something more subtle than simple summer camp pranks. Like, she might start by privately suggesting some poster ideas to Glark, and then...well, I digress.
Angel tells Gunn and Fred that they should take Connor out for a few hours. It's got to be, like, ten o'clock now. Maybe they should let Connor take a nap. He's still a growing boy. In theory. Fred asks where they should take Connor, and Angel says, "Some place where this world isn't as ugly as he thinks it is." He just can't answer a direct question, can he? I wait for Fred to ask, "Well, how ugly does he think the world is?" She doesn't, though. Instead, Gunn asks what they should say if Connor asks where Angel is. "Don't tell him" is Angel's response. Again with the unhelpful answers. Gunn and Fred obligingly go off to babysit Connor. As Angel grabs his coat, Cordelia reminds him that it's time for them to do "that thing." She explains, "That thing where I say, 'Are you sure you know what you're doing?' and 'Angel, please think about this,' and then you ignore me and rush headlong into trouble." Angel nods and says, "Right, that thing. Okay, are we done?" Cordy repeats her pleas, and Angel insists that he won't kill Holtz. Cordy blithely says, "I don't care if you kill him. He stole Connor's childhood, so kill him. But don't lie to your son." Angel wraps himself in his coat of denial and insists that he's not lying to Connor, and Cordy points out the rationalizations, but of course Angel doesn't care, so off he goes.
Justine and Holtz sit in the hotel room as she tells him, "You gave me a reason again. Even if it was all lies." Holtz insists, "Not all." Aw. They're both so crazy and in love. But mostly just crazy. Justine adds that she'd still do anything for him, and asks how he survived in Quor-Toth. Holtz explains, "My hate kept us alive." I see. Justine enthuses about hate: "It can keep you going sometimes when nothing else will." Tell me about it. Holtz tells her that "the hate turned into love. Love for a son. Hate's not enough; I found that love is far more powerful." He says he needs Justine to do something for him before he can "be done with vengeance." Hey, I thought it was justice! I mean, according to him. I guess he had time to look at things differently.
Gunn and Fred have taken Connor down to the beach to watch the tide come in. Connor says that Holtz described the ocean to him, but that he didn't realize how empty it was. Fred cheerfully insists that there's another world under the surface. Connor is lost in existential ennui, but Fred babbles to distract him: "I got lost once like you. When I came back, nothing seemed real." Connor simply says, "I don't remember being lost," and walks away, closer to the waves. Gunn and Fred watch from a distance as Connor stares out at the sea. Fred wishes that Angel were there, saying, "I just feel kinda guilty, keeping [Connor] busy and distracted." She asks what Angel is going to do, and Gunn says that "Angel will deal with Holtz in his own way." Connor turns back and stares at them, and Fred "uh oh"s. Gunn looks back at Connor with wonder as he insists, "He couldn't have heard us." "He did," Fred says. And then Connor suddenly runs away.
So, during this commercial break I accidentally started to tape that annoying Batman-esque Scooby Doo ad before I hit stop on the VCR. And then I rewound and cued up the tape again, but this is an old tape I've been recycling, so when there's no dialogue, sometimes I can hear the soundtrack of whatever was recorded before. Which is all set-up so that you'll understand this bit. Cordy's closing up the office for the night, turning off lights and grabbing her coat, and on the soundtrack an announcer says, "He will be called upon yet again to save the world!" Hee. Maybe you had to be here. Cordy steps out into the lobby and sees a figure silhouetted by the door. "Angel!" she says wonderingly. "Do you know how happy this makes me? I asked you not to go and you didn't go!" She hurries over to the doorway, and only then realizes that it's Groo. Who looks at her as if she was saying, "Quick, we can have sex now while Groo is gone!" I'd feel bad for him if they acted like Cordelia was intentionally misleading him, but he's coming off like an over-possessive jerk.
Holtz puts a letter in an envelope at his desk. And then stares into space and asks, "Would you require an invitation for a place like this?" From the doorway, Angel gives his patented speech to the effect that he doesn't need to be invited into a "public accommodation." He steps inside, and Holtz turns, saying, "You'd think I'd have remembered something like that. It would have seemed important once." Holtz stands up, and Angel slams the door closed and shoves Holtz up against a wall. Angel growls, "You stole my son!" Holtz calmly replies, "I kept your son alive. You murdered mine." Angel does not say, "Well, okay, point, but still...." But oh my god, he's acting again! I'm not quite sure what his expression means, but he's definitely showing a reaction of some kind. Man, I'm starting to feel bad about picking on him again. I hate when that happens. He does seem to work harder when he's got someone threatening to upstage him, which is another thing that's winning me over to the whole Connor story. Angel gradually releases his grip on Holtz's neck and reluctantly concedes, "I was different then." Holtz says that he was, too, and notes that Angel can't express his remorse. Nope, he can only glower. Angel says that apologizing wouldn't mean anything, but Holtz says it would be something. Angel stares into space and finally says, "Then I'm sorry. For whatever little it might mean." Holtz wearily sits down as he explains that he believed that taking Connor would give him some justice, but that he was wrong. "It was vengeance," Angel finishes. Holtz verbally shrugs, "Well, maybe vengeance is what I do now." Heh. And then Holtz stands up again, and the blocking here is weird with all the standing and sitting, but I digress. Holtz tells Angel, "I'm an old man now. I have nothing to offer the boy. You can give him what I can't: his purpose. But every time you look upon his face, every time he calls you 'father,' you will be reminded of that which you took, and can never give back. And if that is vengeance, I find I have no taste for it." Holtz is such a scamp. He hands the envelope to Angel, explaining that it's a note for Connor that Angel is free to read. Angel asks why Holtz is doing this, and Holtz answers, "I love my son." Angel winces at that while Holtz continues, "And it's the only way to ensure that he'll go on loving me." He's so bad! I love it. Holtz wipes all the Cordy nonsense away. Angel takes the envelope and heads for the door. Holtz adds that Connor will try to find him, but he'll fail. Exit Angel.
Connor runs like the wind through an alley. Angel parks by the side of a road and opens the envelope. I'm gonna quote most of it, because it's basically Holtz's swan song, and I think he deserves that much. Plus it's fun to find the double meanings. So. "This is a most difficult letter for me to write. You mean more to me than anything in this world, or any other. But your best interests must come first." Connor runs out into a street, and runs among the honking cars. "By the time you receive this, I will be gone." Holtz stares across his room at Justine, who is standing in the doorway looking very pretty. Connor runs against traffic, and does a super-cool bit where he runs right over the hood and roof of a sports car. "To attempt a goodbye in your presence would be impossible for me. I fear I would never let you go. And I must let you go -- I know that if I didn't, you would only end up hating me, and that I could not bear." Hey! Holtz used a contraction! He never does that. Outside the motel, Justine shoves Holtz into a wall while begging, "Don't make me do it!" We can see an ice pick in her hand as Holtz reminds her, "You said [that] you'd do anything for me. I'm not asking you to follow me into hell -- just help send me there." Maybe he discovered contractions in Quor-Toth. Justine pokes the ice pick into Holtz's neck as she bursts into tears. Back to the letter: "Your destiny lies with Angel. I know that now. You will have a better life with him." Holtz slumps to the ground and demands, "Again! Again!" Kind of like the baby on Dinosaurs. But not much, really. Justine cries some more and carefully pokes the ice pick back into his neck. Yeah, there's not enough blood, but this is TV. Connor keeps running. Angel keeps reading. Back to the letter: "I'm comforted by that certainty, and in the knowledge that, with him, you will discover your true purpose and come to know who it is you are meant to be." Y'know, I'd kind of like some shot of Gunn and Fred in this. I mean, I wouldn't enjoy seeing them, but they should be able to guess where Connor's going, so it'd be nice to see one shot of them stuck in traffic or trying to call Angel or some damn thing. Connor runs some more. Holtz falls to the ground and mutters, "Steven." Angel folds the letter up, puts it back in the envelope, and smugly says, "Connor."
Connor bursts into the motel room and calls, "Dad!" He looks so scared! Gosh. I'm suddenly overwhelmed with maternal instincts, and wish I could give him a blanket and some cocoa. Connor backs out of the room, and I guess Angel didn't finish Holtz's letter or something, because there's more: "My only prayer is that I've prepared you well enough for whatever lies ahead. I trust I have. Be brave. Lovingly, Your Father." The captions have that last bit as "Lovingly, Dad," which makes Holtz far too informal, in my opinion. Anyway. Connor runs...uh, somewhere, and ends up in the alleyway where Justine is stroking the hair of a very dead Holtz. Connor kneels down in shock by Holtz's body. Justine looks up at him rather guiltily. And honestly, if you have the episode on tape, watch the bit where Connor sees the wounds on Holtz's neck. You can totally see his expression go from a horrified "How?" to a cynical smile of dawning comprehension, and I'd just like to say: wow. He's very good. I'm sad about Keith Szarabajka's departure, but Vincent Kartheiser is pretty good compensation. Connor sees the two punctures in Holtz's neck and says, "Angelus." The end.
week, the season finale. Angel hugs Cordy and pals around with Connor, which looks sweet in the preview but you know has to be bad news because of what we just saw. Cordy says, "I'm in love!" And, off-camera, adds, "With Angel." I join the world in prayer that this is some sadistic editor at work. Dear Mutant Enemy: I don't care if Angel falls in love with someone, and notice that I'm very much in favor of the idea that he loved Darla more than Buffy. But this thing with Cordelia? Makes. No. Sense. Love, Strega. I got a little distracted there, so back to the preview: Connor tries to do some kind of David Blaine magic trick with Angel in a box. I realize that my customary contrariness has led me to a somewhat defensive stance about this season, but seriously: isn't this better than Pylea?