Sacrifice

Previously on...hey. Hey! There's nobody saying "Previously on Angel" as the clips start. How am I gonna know what the hell I'm watching? For all I know, this is Everwood. Fine. Previously on television, Fred gave Angel a baptism of gunfire, Cary made like Benny Hinn, the MoG were revived, and it was Connor's turn to play Judas.

The MoG stare at Connor as he calls for the Jasmaniacs from the hallway. Angel begs Connor to listen, but Connor sneers, "Listen to you? You're the ones who lie, you're the ones who hate!" Angel insists that Connor's being controlled by Jasmine, but Connor disagrees, saying, "It doesn't matter what you say. We're gonna tear you apart." He smiles a little at that, and his eyes light up. I absolutely adore how incredibly screwed up he is. Is that wrong? Connor turns to look down the hall as some Jasmaniacs approach. Angel rushes forward and closes the door. I'd grumble about Angel's failure to use the chain to close the door, but those things can be kicked open by normal people, never mind Connor. Angel holds the door while Connor starts pounding on it, and tells the others to go. He insists, "Someone who knows the truth has to live through this." The MoG stare for a second, and head for the windows.

The MoG clamber down the fire escape. Whee!

Angel is bounced against the door as Connor smashes into it. I could do without the "straight up Boreanaz's nose" camera angle here. Connor growls, "I'm finally part of something! I belong! And I won't let anyone ruin that!" We see Connor outside crashing into the door, and they should get a rubber door for him or something, because it sure doesn't look like he's hitting the door with the same force that's jolting Angel. Connor punches a hole through the door near Angel's head, and then spins around, for some reason. And the door is miraculously healed! Oops. The door's still broken on Angel's side. He whispers, "I know, son," and then crashes through the door and tackles Connor, then starts pummeling him. The Jasmaniacs -- who are sure taking their sweet time -- finally arrive and start picking up bits of the broken door while Angel concentrates on beating his kid senseless. I guess Jasmine wants everything to be tidy.

The Angelmobile screeches up and halts by the fire escape as the MoG wait for Angel. Gunn suggests cutting the power to create a distraction. Wesley says it's too risky. He starts to go on a bit, and then an unconscious, bloody Connor suddenly crashes onto the hood of the car. He's okay -- the car broke his fall. Angel lands immediately afterward, and then hops off the car and slides Connor off the hood. Angel gets in the car and says, "Drive." Fred whines, "We can't just leave him; he's your --" Angel snaps, "I know what he is. Wes, drive." Wow, poor Angel. Wow, I can't believe I just said that. Wesley sorta shrugs, like, "All righty, then," and I start wondering if they're about to run Connor over, because he's right in front of the car. I mean, the kid's bad news and all, but that's just cold. Then the MoG see a bunch of Jasmaniacs entering the alley, with Jasmine bringing up the rear. Wesley puts the car in reverse and backs up before spinning around and racing away. Jasmine stares after the car.

Credits. Whenever I see Charisma Carpenter's name in the credits, I think, "Oh yeah. Cordy. I like her." But then I don't really miss her on the show. This week's Boreanaz quote: "I love the tempestuousness of oceans and solitude of lakes. Also, sensuality that drips and runs down the spine." Not to be confused with the kind of sensuality that drips and runs down the nose. Just so we're clear.

The Angelmobile putters along. Someone's turned the radio on, and we hear a woman reading the news. Apparently, the Mayor has declared Los Angeles "the First Citadel of Jasmine." The story is: "The L.A. Archdiocese has stated to the press that it will remove all false idols from its churches, replacing them with images of She Who Walks Among Us. Way to go, Catholic Church!" I think it's hilarious that the Parents Television Council is still carrying on about Buffy but, as far as I know, has yet to say a word about this show. Johanna suggests that it's similar to the way Harry Potter books get banned all over the place while nobody notices His Dark Materials. Angel turns the radio off while Cary observes, "Talk about media buzz." He rambles a little before asking if anyone else feels like "the last feisty wife in Stepford." The group engages in some communal fretting, and Wesley mentions that the car's almost out of gas. Gunn says that the universe hasn't been handing them any breaks lately. That's about to change in a big way. Fred thinks they should have taken Connor along, and asks, "What if he doesn't wake up?" Angel grrs, "What if we took him, and he did?"

Four Jasmaniacs are stripping in Jasmine's room. Jasmine calls them off-camera before they get completely nekkid, although I am bizarrely pleased that at least one of the girls isn't wearing matching underwear. Y'know, 'cause usually on television shows, all women have an inexhaustible supply of coordinated dainties, but who does that in real life? A bloody Connor is reclining in a chair that I covet. Jasmine's green glow builds off-camera, and then we see her glowy self solidifying, or whatever it is that she does. Done with her snack, Jasmine goes to Connor, who says, "Indescribable." Jasmine moves her hand over Connor's head and chest, and his wounds are healed. Revived, he sits up and tells Jasmine what the MoG did. She assures him that the MoG are no threat to her, adding, "Every moment that passes, I grow closer to my followers. I feel what they feel, I see what they see." Aha -- that's her weakness! If the MoG can get enough Jasmaniacs to watch something like Mr. Personality, the cumulative disgust will drive Jasmine from this dimension. Although, think of the terrible human cost.

The Angelmobile pulls into a moderately busy gas station. Cary says, "That's a whole lot of pod people," but Angel says it's better than the last three places they tried. Wesley suggests that if they get out of Jasmine's "sphere of influence," they might be able to prepare some kind of resistance. There's a shot of two guys at by the pumps, one of whom is wiping oil off his hands on the other guy's tie. Angel says they have to move fast, and reminds Gunn that the Jasmaniacs are under a spell, then adds, "But if it does come down to a choice between us or them..." Gunn's cool with that.

A man slides his credit card at the pump and turns to his car with a gas nozzle. Gunn punches the guy and grabs the nozzle. As the Angelmobile quickly backs up within reach, Gunn announces, "That's right -- it's the big, bad, free-will gang, gassing up!" I guess they're already attracting attention, but maybe someone should give Gunn lessons in stealth. The rest of the MoG hop out of the car, and Angel warns the Jasmaniacs, "We don't want to hurt anyone!" A Latino guy walks up and speaks with Jasmine's voice: "But you are hurting me, Angel, just by being." Angel, dumbfounded, says, "Oookay, that's new." The guy continues speaking with Jasmine's voice, and, inevitably, they fight. As Angel knocks the guy unconscious, Cary shouts to Wesley: "Soccer mom! Twelve o'clock!" Wesley turns just as a woman swings a Club at him. Er, not a cudgel. The Club. The car lock. Tee hee. Wesley punches her and takes the Club away. Another man smashes a bottle and approaches Fred as he says, again in Jasmine's voice: "You can't outrun my love. It has wings made of radio." Police sirens fade in as Fred kicks the broken bottle away and punches the guy. I don't think Fred should be punching people. I'm fine with her being good at fighting dirty, but knocking people out with a single punch is a bit questionable even when Gunn's doing it. Or is there some kind of glass-jaw syndrome endemic to Los Angeles? Gunn turns as a little girl rolls down her window to tell him (still à la Jasmine): "My love sings over the wires that bind this world." Gunn says that things are getting a little creepy, and I tend to agree. As a mechanic approaches, the MoG hop back into the car. For some reason, they left out the part where Wesley calls shotgun. Because he's always with the guns. You know? Never mind. Cary starts to mutter about getting snacks, and the mechanic leaps onto the car's hood as the Angelmobile pulls away. The mechanic is thrown off the car, and the Angelmobile hits the road, pursued by two police cars. The mechanic watches them leave and laughs with Jasmine's voice.

Cut to Jasmine in her room, chuckling. Yeah, I could do without the patented evil laughter. Although I like to imagine what Gina Torres is looking at off-camera to inspire the giggles.

Cop-vert. The Angelmobile pulls into an alley, with sirens still in the distance. Gunn is astonished by all the cops, and Wesley explains, "We're the only criminals left." Angel decides that they'll be able to drive out of the city, and I wonder if it's really going to be easier to get out of Los Angeles on foot. He says, "It's time we disappeared."

Searchlights from an implied helicopter move through the alley and over the Angelmobile. Hey, they disappeared! Oh, and Angel left the lights on. Man, it's going to get towed, and the battery will be run down, and it'll be such a pain to get it back. They'd better not lose the Angelmobile! The shameful mistreatment of Phantom Dennis was bad enough. The camera slides down the alley, past the searchlights, to reveal a manhole in the alley.

And we're back to the sewer tunnels. Maybe they'll run into the Mighty Agrippa, Roman God of the Aqueduct! Angel is acting the manic Shetland to Cary's logy sheep, or something like that. Cary whines that he needs to rest; Angel starts to nag, but when he sees that Wesley and Fred have also paused for breath, he grudgingly allows them one minute to refresh themselves. Fred figures that Angel knows the tunnels better than anyone Jasmine's controlling. Except maybe for all of the Department of Water & Power employees. Gunn wonders what they're going to do: "Get all stanky and starve to death?" Angel grumbles that he doesn't have a plan at the moment, and Gunn snaps, "Well, I ain't eatin' no rats!" Angel pauses for a second before replying, "Neither am I!" But we all know he would. It'd be funnier if he was all defensive and said, "They aren't that bad, y'know." Gunn sneers, "Plan's coming together!" and Angel snips, "Glad to see you're on board!" and everyone else rolls their eyes. Thank goodness that's over; I was almost out of "sn-" verbs. Fred tries to distract them by suddenly mentioning Cordelia, adding, "I can't believe I almost forgot about her." Right there with you, Fred. Angel says, "Do it. Forget about her. We all have to, now. We don't have a choice." Oh. Guess I'll stop feeling bad about it, then. He marches away, saying that their minute is up. As the MoG move on in various states of dejection, we pan over to a sewer grating, inside of which is...The Red Eye! Aieeeeee! Hang on, there are actually two glowing red eyes. Is there a Mrs. Red Eye, now?

Connor holds Cordelia's hand and stares at her as Jasmine enters. Connor shows Jasmine Cordy's bandaged wrist. Jasmine says, "I know. I saw it through you." She says she's horrified by what the MoG have done: "Her precious blood stolen for their black, deceitful, cowardly magic." Connor repeats his Standard Complaint #3 by sighing, "They're always using magic." Jasmine tells Connor, "I want to be alone with my mother." Connor nods and heads for the door. I keep noticing that he often doesn't look directly at Jasmine, and I wonder if he is de-thralled and sees the maggoty dummy-head, but then sometimes he does look at her, and then I get all confused.

The MoG enter a tunnel that's a lot bigger than usual, which makes it look like a spaceship. I start to imagine an Angel in Spaaaaaace show, and can just picture Whedon enthusiastically explaining to every available press outlet, "It's a vampire adventure epic horror soap opera show. In space! But definitely not a western!" and what with one thing and another ten minutes pass, and I have to rewind to see what I missed. Cary and Fred are trailing the group, and Cary asks if Fred's feeling gloomy because of Cordy. Fred glances down the tunnel at Angel and says she doesn't care what he says. Cary agrees, and says that Angel's been "a bit heartless lately." Lately? It's been, what, one night at most? He just beat his kid to a pulp so he could save the world, I think he can be a little grumpy for a day or so. From further down the tunnel, Angel loudly replies, "Hearts get in the way," and Cary chirps, "Hearing as good as ever, though, Boss!" Heh. As they march on, Angel says, "If we don't gut ourselves, burn out everything inside that gave her power over us, then we're lost." That's inspiring. Cary calls Angel "Dr. Pep," and Wesley interrupts to talk about missing Jasmine: "I miss the warmth, and the knowing what's right, and that you're doing it just by loving her." Doesn't that sound like the lead-in to a musical number? I half-expect him to belt out "If Loving You is Wrong." As they walk on, Fred talks about something. No one cares. Wesley reminds us that Jasmine didn't have a name when she arrived, since that'll be important later. Cary suggests, "Maybe it was embarrassing, like 'Hester' or 'Peanut.'" And suddenly the floor gives way under them. Angel falls into a pit, and Wesley clings to the edge. The cuts were so fast that I didn't notice it the first time, but the bottom of the pit is lined with wooden spikes, so Angel sort of catches himself on his hands to avoid a nasty dusting. Gunn hauls Wesley out, and Angel looks around in the pit as there are clanging noises nearby. I start grumbling that Angel could totally jump out of there. A kid suddenly stands by the pit, pointing a broomstick at him. No, still doesn't seem like a problem.

After the ads, more kids pop out, armed with broomsticks with knives tied to the ends. The MoG are each facing off against a kid armed with some variation of broomstick weaponry. Angel grumbles at the kid guarding him for a minute, and finally says, "Gimmee that," and pops out of the pit. I can't decide if this is a joke about the "with one mighty leap" solution to cliffhangers or not. I want to believe it is. It would have helped if Angel had said, "Oh, gee, however will I get out? [boing]" On cue, the rest of the MoG attack their guards and quickly disarm them before Angel calls a halt. Angel grabs the kid who was ineffectively guarding him, who turns out to be a little boy. The angle on him from in the pit made me think he was older. Angel says that the kids aren't Jasmaniacs, noting, "They're not exactly fighting like a well-oiled, mind-controlled, army of love." Gunn's all pissy with the guy he tackled, and I think I've finally made sense of Gunn's character: when he's stressed and uncertain, he'll pick a fight about anything handy. Which is fine (well, it's not a fine way to behave, but it is a thing some people do), although I wish it hadn't taken nearly two years for them to figure out some consistent pattern of behavior for him. Angel calls Gunn off, and the leader of the gang of kids says, "Gunn? Charles Gunn." Gunn, who's also a little slow when he's grumpy, asks, "I say you could use my name?" without realizing that they weren't formally introduced. The kid retorts, "I say you could use my ride without payin' the piper?" Gunn finally recognizes the kid as "Tommy Golden's little brother, Randall!" He cheers up a little and introduces Randall as a kid who stole his car when Randall was twelve. The reunion is interrupted by a spooky "wiiiiiiiiiiirrrgh" noise in the distance. The littlest kid sighs, "It's back."

Connor walks down the hall and re-enters Cordelia's room. Jasmine is still sitting there, staring happily at the space where Cordy used to be. Whoops. Connor apologetically explains, "I'm sorry, I just couldn't be --" then he realizes that the bed is empty. Jasmine explains that if Cordelia "falls into hateful hands, the hate can spread." He asks where Cordy is, and Jasmine non-answers, "She's where I want her to be." She moves to Connor and strokes his hair, and I'm really starting to wonder if he's got Dawn's magnetic-hair power. Jasmine adds, "And so are you." She leads Connor out of the room, and are Vincent Kartheiser's lips are naturally that red, or is he's just very pale, or has he got some amazing lipstick? And if it's the last one, what brand is it?

The MoG enter a portion of the tunnels that the Found Boys 2: The Foundlings have turned into a home. The various tunnel entrances are blocked off with jury-rigged gratings. Fred asks what they're running from, and Randall replies, "It's not like anything I've ever seen." Gunn explains that Randall's brother was part of the original Found Boys "back in the old days." When Gunn had a camp. I know I should get over the camp, but I can't! Randall says that when the sun went out, their group tried to fight off the vamps, but then retreated into the sewers. I guess that makes sense, sorta. If the vampires could run around above ground, the sewers would be relatively safe. But you'd think that when the sun was restored, the Foundlings would have noticed a sudden influx of visitors. Angel goes over to check one of the gratings, and the littlest kid -- who will soon be identified as Matthew -- follows. Matthew asks, "They're your crew, aren't they? You're the leader." He assures Angel that they check all the gratings every day to make sure they're secure. Angel grumps, "Well, now I'm checking," and moves away. Fred asks Randall about Matthew. Randall explains, "We found him in a pile-up on La Brea. Vamps laid tire-traps on the road, havin' themselves a car-wreck picnic." Hey, that's pretty neat. And gruesome, too. Angel angstingly eavesdrops as Randall adds that Matthew saw his parents murdered by vamps before the Foundlings rescued him. Angel looks down at his hand, which is stained with blood, and asks Matthew if there's any water. Matthew happily leads him to a water pipe they've busted into, and Angel rinses the blood off of his hands so that they meet the religious symbolism quota for the week. Holly, a blonde wearing a hardhat (which I'd like better if it was a miner's hat), says she led the Foundlings down into this spot because she used to crash down in the tunnels "when the missions were full." Randall finishes filling in their background and mentions that they've been hiding in the sewers for over two weeks. Then the mysterious monster started picking them off. Holly adds that Randall's brother was killed a week ago. Angel wipes his hands off on a rag, and Matthew asks, "Whose blood is that?" Angel answers, "Somebody I knew." Ooh, past tense. Then there's a quick flashback to Angel beating Connor, in case we forgot or something, which is irritating. Angel adds, "Somebody who tried to do bad stuff my friends."

Fred marvels that the Foundlings have been underground all this time, although she doesn't mention that the sun is out, but I guess that makes sense. Because, really, what are they going to say? "The sun's back, and it's perfectly safe now, but you still shouldn't go above ground because you'll become very happy." It's somewhat unconvincing to me, and I saw it. Randall says that he's not leaving until they kill the monster that killed his brother. A beast like that, he kill your brother! Forget that beast, just kill another! Fred notes that it's a lucky coincidence that they ran into the Foundlings, and it does help when the characters note how lucky they are. Then she adds, "We're professional monster killers. Or, we were." Is she trying to one-up a gang of homeless kids who live in a sewer? Angel insists, "We are," and picks up a sword that's sitting on a shredded armchair. Randall complains, "That belonged to Tommy!" but Angel doesn't care. He heads for the exit, announcing, "Let's go get professional on this evil son of a bitch's ass."

Jasmine's on the phone, telling someone to "drop by anytime." When she hangs up, Connor tells her that the cops lost the MoG, and begs for a chance to go find them himself. Jasmine reassures him, "Soon you'll go out with all of my strength behind you." She says that she was just talking to the governor, who is going to dissolve his administration that night. "The state now answers to me," she chuckles. Connor looks vaguely...um. Something. Not thrilled, at least. His hair is also brushed back more than usual, so his forehead is large and scary. Is Jasmine turning him into Dawson? That shit ain't right. Jasmine blah blahs about freeing everyone from "the empty horror of their lives." But...that's why we have television! Blah blah grandiose plans blah, and we're back to the hair-stroking and hugs. Jasmine finally wonders about Connor's lack of enthusiasm. She says that Connor hasn't surrendered completely, and that he has to do that to belong. She tells him, "There's a part of you [that] you've kept from me. Your pain." Jasmine says that pain has been the only constant in his life, and takes his hand as she insists that he can't keep his pain to himself. She starts to dig her fingernails into Connor's hand, insisting, "I want it. I want everything you are. Connor, Father, let it go." Connor duhs, "Okay." Jasmine pulls her nails out of his flesh and then holds up her hand, revealing that she has identical wounds, which quickly fade away. Well, that was odd.

The MoG and Foundlings roam through the tunnel. Fred worries about the kids, but Angel says they just want something to fight, and he feels the same way. Cary twirls a hockey stick and says to Wesley, "I ever tell you [that] I suck at sports?" Matthew says they're at the place where Tommy was "taken," and Fred notices an odd smell. Angel says it's ammonia. Just to go all C.S.I. on you: in a damp, cool environment, decomposing flesh will form adipocere, which smells like ammonia. So that's a nice little disgusting detail, although you'd think Angel, of all people, would notice the other smells associated with what's going on. Suddenly, Randall is yanked up into a vertical tunnel. Angel immediately leaps up after him. I'm still waiting for the kids to ask about Angel's superpowers. Sounds of swordplay, and Randall suddenly falls down to the floor. Angel leaps back down, and turns to face Matthew in vamp-face. Matthew runs away. Guys, when you're dealing with semi-fearless vampire hunters, it's probably a good idea to mention that one of your members is actually a vampire himself. Angel half-heartedly chases Matthew, but he's a vampire with superpowers ("faster than ten fast men," in fact), and Matthew's a little human boy, so he gives it up as a lost cause. Then Fred screams as she's suddenly yanked back by a claw that reaches out through a grating. Cary pokes at the monster with his hockey stick, heh, and then Angel arrives and frees her. Holly helps Randall up as Angel sends Gunn and Fred after Matthew. Angel calls for Cary and Wesley. Cary answers, "Jawohl," and Wesley says nothing, because Wesley is gone. Gone! Gosh, that's....fabulous!

Cut to Wesley, being thrown against a wall. He looks up at a super-cool demon. It looks like they modified the bug-legs from "Fredless," which makes me happy because that was a neat concept even if the giant bug itself looked dopey. And then on top of that (literally), this monster has a human torso with random protruding spiky hairs, and a ventral spine, and claws instead of hands, and it's just an excellent costume to the point that I'm bumping up the episode grade a little because I like it so much. Picture a cross between Jeff Goldblum in The Fly and Randy the Wonder-Lizard, whom you've probably never heard of, but my brother and I were just talking about him the other day, so it's a bonus joke for us. The demon leans in and gibbers, "We loved her first!"

After the ads, Angel tells Cary to take the Foundlings back to their camp while he tracks the monster. He turns, and suddenly the Foundlings are all pointing sharp things at him. Randall says, "Uh uh, Dracula. Not okay."

Wesley manfully agrees with the demon: "Fine. You loved her first!" The demon goes on about building temples before humanity existed. Then it makes a wailing creaky-door noise and moans, "But she came here!" Wesley realizes that the critter is talking about Jasmine. It hisses at her name and wheezes, "Name her! Filthy little mice! She is the Devourer, the song, the peace, the whole. And you try to name her!" It clicks and whirrs so much that I expect punchcards to pop out of its mouth. Something falls from the ceiling between them, and the closed captioning reads "[splat]." Hee. Then we see that the splat was caused by a little bloody hunk of something. The demon sighs that it has work to do, reminds Wesley once again about who loved Jasmine first, and leaves. Shouldn't it be killing Wesley right about now? Or imprisoning him in a viscous goo for later? Or at least sealing his mouth with viscous goo? Please? But no, the demon scampers across the room, and it looks like they've done a CGI rendering of stop-motion animation, which is odd. I'm not sure if it's intended to look like stop-motion, but even if it isn't, I prefer it to the way CGI movement is usually too smooth to read as natural. Anyhow, the demon seems to be constructing a big globby ball of stuff. At least some of the stuff appears to be bodies. Or parts of bodies. Since I can't resist calling it a Yuckyball, I kinda have to call the demon R. Yuckmeister Fouler. Yeah, I know, but it's not really a name that lends itself to puns. Anyway, I'm wondering how the bit of gristle fell way over by Wesley when the Yuckyball seems to be on the other side of the room. Or do I not want to know? Wesley stares at the Yuckyball and nervously asks, "How does your kind define 'love'?" The Yuckmeister answers, "The same as all bodies. The same as everywheres. Love is sacrifice." There's a neat Valentine's Day concept lurking in here somewhere.

Fred and Gunn roam the tunnels, shouting for Matthew. Gunn claims he heard the kid splashing up ahead. Fred wonders if the noises could have been another monster. Gunn marches on valiantly. "Or it could just be rats," Fred adds. Gunn stops and whines, "What'd you have to go and say that for? Damn!" He starts looking around at the ground while Fred semi-apologizes, and assures Gunn that any noises they hear are probably just some kind of horrible monster. Then a completely insane conversation happens. I'll give you the CliffsNotes version:

Gunn: Well, this is a fine howdy-do.
Fred: Matthew must be scared.
Strega: What? How is that a response to what Gunn said?
Gunn: Angel says that feelings don't matter.
Strega: Are you two supposed to be talking to each other?
Fred: Mean people suck.
Gunn: Nice people get killed by Jasmine.
Fred: I need more important goals than mere survival.
Strega: You mean, like when you were in Pylea?
Gunn: You were pretty mean when we killed Dr. Seidel.
Fred: It eats me up inside when I think about that.
Gunn: Which proves...wait, does that prove your point or mine?
Fred: Being eaten up inside is better than being a heartless shell.
Strega: No, you idiot, being eaten up inside is what causes you to become a heartless shell.
Gunn: Matthew must be scared.
Fred: I win!
Strega: What the hell?

Meanwhile, the Foundlings are a little perturbed by Angel's vampirism. Cary defends Angel, explaining that he only drinks pig's blood. Angel doesn't think that's helping. Cary insists, "You've gotta a give an undead fella points for that, right? I mean, unless you're into the whole kosher thing, but you're not...well, you don't look --" Heh. Angel goes for a husky Clint Eastwood voice as she says that he can't justify himself to the kids. He adds, "But what I can do is take that spear away from you and snap it into kindling, and break your neck, in half the time it would take for you to give it a good push." All righty then! The kids look a tiny bit intimidated.

Gunn kicks a grate out of a sewer pipe as he and Fred reach the surface. Aieee, daylight! So, do they think the kid passed through the tiny little holes in the grating? If not, I'm thinking this is the wrong exit. They reach the street and start to hurry in a random direction. Well, this is hopeless. Gunn and Fred duck behind a building as a skateboarder passes by. The streets are otherwise deserted, but I have no idea if that signifies anything. I guess it's probably early in the morning, actually. Gunn and Fred run down an alley.

Yuckmeister is...oh man. It has hacked open a torso and seems to be sewing bits of the skin to other things on the Yuckyball. Wesley helpfully mentions that the door to the tunnels is open. Yuckmeister isn't concerned: "Good at catching furrys." Well, why'd you go through all that effort to catch one if you didn't want to use it right away? Wesley tries a new conversational gambit: "So...not from around here, are you?" I try explaining to the Yuckmeister that it takes a throat-slitting to keep Wesley quiet, but it doesn't listen. Instead, it explains that it comes from an older world. As Wesley spots a little blue orb, Yuckmeister chuckles, "Use my key, visit. Won't be breathing there. Burn out little mouth-lungs before you make a peep." Mm, peeps. Meanwhile, Yuckmeister continues cutting bits of things out of other things. Seriously, this is quite disgusting. Wesley says, "Fair enough," and backs away from the orb. Yuckmeister mimics him, "'Fair enough! Fair enough, enough!'" Yeah, I like this critter.

Wesley asks if the Yuckyball is part of a spell, and the Yuckmeister explains that it's doing "blood magic, flesh magic, older than words" to remind Jasmine who loved her first. It adds that Jasmine doesn't care about "word-magic," and says, "There only one word she --" It stops suddenly, and turns to click at Wesley. Wesley -- who is such a tremendous idiot that I can't even believe it -- decides to let Yuckmeister know that it's said too much, instead of acting like he didn't notice the slip. This behavior may get him killed, which should explain why I haven't said, "Shut up, Wesley." He asks what word Jasmine cares about. Yuckmeister reminds him, "You is talky meat. Don't make me come down there!" and busily resumes work. As it pokes a claw into a body, the body suddenly jerks up so we can see it's a vampire. The vamp whines, "What is it with you, man? This is disgusting!" Hee. The vamp begs Yuckmeister to "drop the clich serial-killer act" and stake him. Yuckmeister, confused, asks, "I tear your guts all inside out. I stitch your guts every all over. Why don't you go dead?" The vampire starts to make a rude suggestion, and Yuckmeister reaches into his mouth. After a quick shriek from the vamp, Yuckmeister turns to Wesley and observes, "More talky meat," before throwing the vamp's tongue onto the floor. Jeeeeeeesus. Are they allowed to do this? Wesley tries to explain that vampires aren't really the correct building material for this project. Yuckmeister asks if the vamp is "like the one with the angry steel?" Wesley explains that the vampire who attacked it is named Angel. Yuckmeister grumbles, "That's why you are so weak; too many are knowing your names! Takes your power away." Wesley starts to go into some cocktail-party chatter about how names don't give them power, and then has an important insight. Which, once again, he decides to share, so that Yuckmeister will try to kill him, because he is an imbecile. Wesley guesses that Jasmine's name is the word that she cares about. Yuckmeister hisses, "Shut," but continues to ignore my advice on how to keep his prey quiet. As Wesley goes on being stupid, Yuckmeister leaps down and shoves Wesley against a wall, shouting, "Shut, shut, shut!" Sing it, brother.

A garbage truck trundles down the alley, revealing Matthew standing nearby. Oh, it actually is the early morning. Cool. Matthew stares around as Fred and Gunn rush up to him. Fred explains that it's not safe here, and Matthew notes, "You didn't tell me that the sun came back out." Gunn snaps, "Oh, yeah, forgot to tell you: the sun came back out." Matthew says that Angel's a vampire, and Fred urges the kid to come back underground with them. Matthew isn't too keen on that, and when Gunn grabs his arm, he starts shouting for help. Gunn punches the kid, knocking him out. Wowee. Fred stares in horror as Gunn catches Matthew and instructs her to grab Matthew's feet.

Wesley is cowering on the floor from Yuckmeister, but will he shut up? Need you ask? Wesley shouts, "She has a name, and it has power over her!" Yuckmeister puts its claws over his ears and screams, "La la la la! Not listening!" Ha! Good move. Wesley hops up so he can yammer on with more volume: "Her true name prevents her from choosing a false one, so one of us had to do it?" There's a funny little moment when one of the bug-legs bumps Wesley, and he jumps back a little. Yuckmeister finally turns and knocks Wesley across the room, and then leaps over to him. It says, "I no keep the name. High priest keep the name!" There's an abrupt shot of the monster's shadow on the wall, with Wesley cowering in a corner of the frame. It's a nice shot, but it seems like it should have come earlier, before we knew what Yuckmeister looked like. Yuckmeister tells Wesley that he's about to "go dead," and puts a claw around his neck to yank him up. Yes, yes, go for the neck! Yuckmeister adds, "I just messenger from the ones who love truly." Angel announces, "I guess it's time to shoot the messenger," as he enters the room. Oh dear, he's gone back to quipping. Yuckmeister quickly knocks Wesley out and turns as Angel attacks.

Back at the Foundlings' home, Cary is finishing a little speech. He cheerfully explains, "And that's why, when we use words like 'ugly-ass' and 'beastie,' we can sometimes do more damage than we intend to." He winds up, "A little life lesson. One to grow on. Knowing...knowing is half the --" Randall tells Cary to shut up. There's a lot of that going around in this episode. Fred and Gunn suddenly run in and deposit Matthew, who's still unconscious. The Foundlings ask what happened to Matthew, and Gunn wisely ignores the question, but Fred less wisely blurts, "We had no other --" before Gunn cuts her off. Randall demands to know what happened, and Gunn, predictably, lashes out and insists that they did what they had to do. Suddenly, Matthew stirs and starts laughing with Jasmine's voice. Fred uh ohs. Matthew sits up and tells Holly, à la Jasmine, "I see you!" He, or she, depending on your point of view, tells Holly, "Look what they did to Matthew. They hit him again and again until he lost all consciousness." As noted in the forums, his face is bruised on the wrong side. Unless they banged him into something while dragging him back down through the tunnels. That's kind of amusing to think about. Gunn, Fred, and Cary starts edging toward the door as Matthew continues, "Don't you want to hit them? Don't you want to kill them?" That kid's expression is pretty darn creepy, and having Jasmine's voice come out of his mouth doesn't help any. Randall agrees that killing the MoG sounds nifty, and looks up as the gang hurries out into the tunnels.

Cary, Fred, and Gunn walk down the tunnel. They're walking quickly, but that still seems a bit unhurried. Although the Foundlings said they had traps all around, so maybe they're being cautious. Man, they're just screwed. And speaking of screwed, that's when they're suddenly lit up by flashlights. The tunnel ahead of them is crowded with soldiers, and Connor shoves his way up to the front of the group. Connor smiles, and says, à la Jasmine, "Hello again, children. I believe you've met my father."