Previously on Angel, Jasmine wanted to help, Fred wanted to clean, Connor wanted to kill, and Angel wanted some Raid.
We open with...Los Angeles. And some Los Angeles. Also: Los Angeles. Sudden pan down into the sewers. Distant sounds of fighting. And, voom, the MoG are battling the National Guard. Apparently, it took all week for the soldiers to remember that they have guns, but when one rifle finally gets pulled out, Fred shouts, "Charles!" and tackles the soldier. Wham, punch, and so forth. Fred is caught. Cary is knocked down. Wesley is walloped across the room by Connor, as if I didn't like the kid enough already. Wesley looks up at Connor, who says, "Angel." No, sweetie, that's Wesley. Okay, I like him, but he's not too bright.
Angel is still surrounded by spider-demons. I had a couple of weird dreams last week about very large bugs. So thanks, Mutant Enemy. And M. Giant isn't helping, either. As the demons close in, Angel shifts the orb into his other hand, and the demons suddenly recoil. It would have been funnier if it took longer for Angel to figure out what was scaring them. Like, "Hey, when I shift my weight to my right foot, they back away. Perhaps I can hop to safety!" Alas, he's quick on the uptake for once. He holds up the orb, and the demons retreat. Because...well, yeah, I don't know, either. Just embrace the serial-type cliffhanger endings, and assume that the Raiders bits of "Awakening" were part of the motif. As the demons retreat, Angel turns around and looks up at a modified version of Devil's Tower. This one has a little building on top. The actual Devil's Tower hasn't been zoned for that sort of thing. Yet. Angel looks at it, and walks out of the frame. The ominous music builds into the theme, which is always nifty. Originally I thought it was neat that the only dialogue in the teaser was Connor saying, "Angel," but it turns out that's not the case. Because Fred ruins everything.
Credits. This week's Boreanaz quote is about shaving cream. You really do need context this time. "I'm just like -- big pile of it and, you know, you put half of it here, and here, and then the rest -- you just throw them in the air, just for prosperity's sake." I hope his wife has her own bathroom.
Still in Yuckmeister's lair, Connor questions the captured MoG. I wonder what happened to the Foundlings. But I don't wonder very much. And yet I'm desperate to know if anybody will notice the giant Yuckyball. I'd like Connor to see it, and either admire the workmanship or figure it's further evidence that the MoG are evil. Instead, Connor paces past the line-up, asking what they planned to do, threatening to kill them...the usual. Wesley says, "Connor --" in his raspiest voice, and Connor points his sword at Wesley and calmly says, "Shut up." Still having trouble disliking the kid. Connor lectures, "All your talk about saving the world. Well, now somebody's gone and done it. Made everything right and good. And you can't stand it because you're all so full of yourselves!" He sneers, "You're all alone now, all of you. You're the ones left out in the cold. You don't belong." The "instead of me" is unspoken, but it doesn't need to be. Wesley insists that Connor doesn't know what Jasmine really is. Connor responds, "She's mine," and raises the sword to chop Wesley's head off. Wesley obligingly tilts his head back so that Connor has a clear target. I guess he's an old hand at this now. Unfortunately, one of the soldiers interrupts in Jasmine's voice, and orders Connor to bring the MoG to her: "Intact." Connor lowers his sword and sighs.
Angel, is this any time to go rock-climbing? Angel is climbing up the mountain to the building on top. There's some CGI. Is this a Star Trek V shout-out? Because this is about when I stopped watching Star Trek V, honestly. Boreanaz's expression fairly shrieks, "Hey, I'm brooding and kicking guy, not climbing guy! That's why I tested for Superman, not Spider-Man! Sheesh."
In her room, Jasmine gives a motivational speech to about a dozen people. Connor leads in the MoG, and Jasmine asks the Jasmaniacs to go to the banquet room, where she'll join them soon. Jasmine starts in on the MoG's pain and suffering, and when Gunn tells her not to gloat, she adds, "I meant the pain you've caused yourselves. By letting go of me." She asks where Angel is. Wesley snarks, and Connor smacks him. Jasmine chides Connor, saying, "I don't want to see that." Connor resumes sulking. Wesley asks Jasmine if she recognized Yuckmeister. I assume he means the species, and not the individual demon. Jasmine explains that, "a few millennia ago," Yucky's world was...um, yucky. All full of hate and fear and war and syndicated dating shows. Gunn asks if Jasmine made Yucky's world into a paradise. Jasmine admits, "I helped them along, kicked up their evolution a few ticks." Heh. "Ticks." 'Cause they're like spiders. Cary cheerily asks how that worked out. Jasmine admits, "It was a trial run. An early experiment to work out the bugs, so to speak. I won't make that mistake again." Wha? What mistake? Did we just lose a line somewhere? Jasmine adds that she knows what Angel's looking for, and that he's wasting his time. Wesley tries his masterful "goad the demon into killing me" strategy again by saying, "If you really believed that, you'd have killed us already." Jasmine growls, "Patience!" Beat. The MoG stare. A middle-aged woman enters and greets Jasmine. I giggle for the ten minutes. Jasmine asks Patience to tell the media to set up in the lobby, where she'll join them after eating. Patience exits, and Wesley guesses that it was too difficult for Jasmine to "conquer a primitive dimension," whereas this world has satellites to beam her message everywhere. Jasmine smugs, "You're not wrong." Fred tells Connor to stop Jasmine from enslaving everyone. Connor numbly insists, "She'll bring them together." Fred tries to explain that Cordy's blood was supposed to show Connor Jasmine's true face. Connor quietly says, "I know what she looks like." Shot of the maggoty dummy-head. Connor adds, "She's beautiful." Well, that answers that question. Jasmine orders the guards to take the MoG to their "accommodations." Wesley whines, "We're bargaining chips to keep Angel quiet." Connor asks, "Quiet about what?" but the MoG are being hustled out. Jasmine turns to Connor and explains that she'll be out of touch with him while she's "feasting" to build up her strength. Perhaps someone should introduce Jasmine to the Verizon guy. She asks Connor to guard the MoG, and to keep an eye out for Angel. Connor asks again what Angel is looking for. Jasmine hesitates and answers, "The unattainable." Very convincing, I'm sure.
In Dimension X, there's a statue with a demony body, but Jasmine's face. I can't see the pedestal clearly enough to tell if it says, "Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!" but it seems like a safe bet. Angel enters what I think we can assume is the mountaintop temple. It's just a stone room, sparsely decorated, apart from some lamps (the burning kind, not the electric kind) ,because they've already spent a lot on CGI for this episode. Angel looks at the statue as someone says, "Long way to come, dead thing, only to fail." After some snippy back-and-forth, the speaker appears. He's a little non-spidery demon guy wearing robes, and introduces himself as "High Priest, Guardian of the Word, Caretaker of Her Most Blessed Temple." Angel asks where the other "true believers" are, and what is with the Spider-Man shout-outs? The Priest answers by griping about betrayal and blasphemy and secular arachnidism. He adds that the long wait for Jasmine's Second Coming has led to a loss of faith, but he's sure that Jasmine will return when she's done with Angel's world. Angel tries to be devious, and asks, "Maybe we're not talking about the same person here-- what's the name of yours, again?" Subtle! Strangely, the Priest doesn't fall for the clever ruse. Angel gives up on trickery and goes with his strength, which is...uh, strength. He lifts the Priest up by the neck and demands Jasmine's name. The Priest sneers, "Fool! You can take away her power, but you've already lost everything!"
Connor locks the MoG in the basement cage as the soldiers exit. Cary asks if Cordelia's blood didn't have the expected effect because Connor's always seen Jasmine's true face. Gunn's shocked to find out that Connor worships the maggoty dummy-head just the way she is. Connor sits down and shrugs, "I grew up in Quor-Toth, a hell dimension full of all sorts of things you can't even imagine. So, you know, appearance? Not that important to me." Well, that's refreshing. And, as threatened, I'll repeat something I said in the forums: if Connor was acting loving and happy either because he really wanted to, or because he was faking it to fit in, either way that's really sad. And neat. Fred asks Connor what is important to him. Gunn interjects, "Not us, apparently. Or his own father." Gunn, hi, I love you, but have you been awake this season? It's a bit late to act all shocked that Connor isn't making you all Priority One. Fred reminds Connor about Cordelia: "She needs help -- medical attention." Connor insists that Cordy's fine, but soon admits, "She's been moved." Wesley looks up at that. Connor quickly adds that Cordy's somewhere safe, and tries to move on. Wesley coolly asks, "What does Jasmine eat?" He mentions that Yuckmeister called Jasmine "The Devourer," and asks what she devours. Connor plays dumb, and Wesley asks about the people Jasmine takes upstairs, and the gathering in the banquet hall. Fred offers a restrained "Oh no," which I giggle at, and Gunn compares the situation to "To Serve Man." Hey, she were no lion, were not Angelenos hinds. Gunn asks Wesley if Jasmine ate Cordy. Wesley says, "I hope not, but we really have no way of knowing, do we?" Everyone looks at Connor, who stares into space.
Back at the temple, the Priest explains that Jasmine "has given [him] sight into the hearts and minds of others" and so he knows all about Angel. Angel squeezes the Priest's throat and grrs, "Then you know I'm kind of in a hurry! Give me her name!" The Priest squawks, "Keeper!" Angel puts the Priest down and asks, "Caper?" Ha! I like this bit, so:
The Priest: Her true name is known only by the Keeper of the Name.
Angel: [lifting the Priest up again] Right! That's you!
The Priest: No! I am the Guardian of the Word!
Angel: You said the Word is the Name.
The Priest: Yes, and I guard the Keeper of it.
Angel: So you are the Keeper's...keeper?
The Priest: I am the Guardian of the Word!
Angel: Yeah, yeah, okay! So where's this Keeper of the Name?
I was waiting for a "vessel with the pestle" line in there. Plus, Angel's funny when he's frustrated. Instead, the Priest looks past Angel. Angel turns to see another demon kneeling in a corner, and puts down the Priest. As Angel walks toward the corner, the Priest adds, "Only with its last breath will [the Keeper] divulge the True Name of the Blessed Devourer." The Keeper stands and turns to face Angel. It's big and bulky and has a club. Oh, and it has a big jagged mouth, which is sewn shut. Note to self: another possible solution to the "Shut up, Wesley" problem.
During the ads, I call Johanna and giggle, "You know he's been saving that 'Patience' joke for years! And he finally found a way to work it in!" I love Jeff Bell, and I think I'd enjoy having a long argument with Minear, but Fury's the one I want to buy a few drinks.
Connor enters a room full of mostly nekkid pretty people. I suppose their overwhelming prettiness should seem a little ridiculous, but this is Los Angeles. I guess this is the banquet hall. It looks like a new room. Jasmine is listening to a dazed blonde, who is saying, "Before you came, my life was a mess. I had no job, I was being evicted." Jasmine says, "It's all right, Susan, you'll never be burdened with those worries again." Hey. Shout-out? Susan goes on blithering as Connor walks up to Jasmine and asks if he can talk to her. Jasmine and Connor step away from the crowd, and Jasmine asks, "Can we do this later? I really hate to keep these lovely people waiting." Connor hems and haws and gets as far as "I wanted to know..." Jasmine figures that he's worried about Cordy. Connor blinks and asks where she is. Jasmine repeats that Cordy's somewhere safe, and Connor looks awkwardly around the room. Jasmine finally gets it, looks amused, and asks, "You think I ate her?" Connor quickly insists that the thought never entered his mind, and Jasmine chuckles and assures him that she's not offended. The whole social awkwardness here is so funny: "I hate to pry, but, er, did you eat your mother?" Jasmine asks, "Who would put such a ridiculous idea in your head?" and Connor replies, "No one. I never thought...so, no, then, about the eating?" Tee hee. Jasmine says she could never hurt Cordelia or Connor: "You're my parents, my tether to this world." She explains that some Jasmaniacs put Cordy in a secure place "for her protection." Connor asks who moved Cordy, and Jasmine starts to get a tiny bit exasperated. She semi-reassuringly says, "Just know [that] she's alive and...well, comatose. And under constant guard, much as our guests downstairs are supposed to be." With that gentle hint, Connor marches off. I like the way all the Jasmaniacs are chattering happily with each other as they strip.
Angel and the Keeper fight. The Priest taunts from the sidelines, wondering why Angel is fighting. He says, "Your friends are dead -- most likely, or so you believe -- so it's not for them you fight," which distracts Angel long enough for the Keeper to thwack him with its club. Angel leaps across the room, but just can't resist the impulse to talk with the Priest. I think he should concentrate on fighting; he's not good at multi-tasking. Angel insists that he's trying to save his world. The Priest asks, "Your world, that doesn't care for you, doesn't want you." Angel says that the world needs him, and the Priest suspects that Angel's been listening to The Powers That Be too much. Angel throws the Keeper over by the statue and asks the Priest, "You wanna tell me what I'm fighting for?" The Priest answers, "The boy. The woman, you've already lost. The boy is what you're fighting for, but you're going to fail. You're going to lose him, too." And then Angel is knocked over by the Keeper. What did I say about just doing one thing at a time? Sigh.
The lobby is packed with people. And television cameras. And television reporters, who are almost like people. Connor moves through the crowd, looking around searchingly. A couple of men are discussing the various satellite feeds set up for Jasmine's god-cast. Connor stops by one girl and sniffs her. She turns, and Connor apologetically explains, "You kinda smell like..." The girl gibbers, "Cordelia!" As Connor moves on, the girl adds, "I read this was her favorite perfume." That seemed off somehow, like something was changed in post. Connor spots a guy in a silly hat who is talking to some blondes, and heads toward him. He's sidetracked when a blonde KTLA reporter snags him and says, "This is such a special day, and as Jasmine's father, you must be so proud!" Connor grunts, "Bursting," and quickly moves toward Silly Hat. Silly hat goes outside, and Connor follows. The reporter turns back to her camera with a cheery "Okay, back to you, Hal!"
In the courtyard, Connor tells some Jasmaniacs that the reporters want to interview "local followers." The Jasmaniacs hurry indoors. Because it's all very well to live in a utopia and meet God personally, but nothing's as cool as being on television. See, this is why I don't think Jasmine was affecting anyone's "free will." Anyway. Silly Hat walks up to a guy who is picking flowers and looks vaguely like Screech. Connor listens as Silly Hat tells Screech that the Lakers have disbanded so that they'd have "more time to devote to Her." Connor walks up, and Silly Hat and Screech gasp at meeting Jasmine's father. Screech holds up a sprig and explains, "Jasmine! For the press conference!" Connor mutters, "Right, because she needs more of that." Heh. He asks if they're the ones who moved Cordelia, explaining that he needs to know where she is. Screech insists, "We didn't do anything with the Transcendent Mother!" Connor grins and pats Silly Hat's shoulder reassuringly as he insists that Jasmine told him all about it. Silly Hat says that Connor should ask Jasmine where Cordy is. Connor slams Silly Hat into a wall and hisses, "I'm asking you!" Screech tries to stab Connor with his plant shears, and is promptly knocked out. Connor presses his forearm on Silly Hat's chest and says, "I can smell her on you. So tell me and I'll crush your windpipe." Silly Hat asks, "You mean 'or,' right?" Connor repeats, "Where's Cordy?" Heh. The old threats are the best threats.
The neck theme is getting a workout in this episode. The Keeper lifts Angel by his neck for a change, and I wait for the Priest to ask, "See how you like it!" Instead, the Priest wonders why Angel is always trying to make things right for Connor even though "it's never enough." Angel gasps, "I can see you never had kids," and frees himself from the Keeper's grasp. While Angel dodges further clubbings, the Priest points out that Connor only exists because of Jasmine's plan. Angel winds up to the Priest as he sniffs, "People get born for all sorts of reasons," and then stabs the Keeper in the belly. "He will never love you," the Priest insists. The Keeper spins around for a mighty swing, and Angel hops out of the way. The end result is that the Keeper accidentally smashes the Priest instead, knocking him across the room and into the wall. Which is, for no readily apparent reason, lined with spikes. Angel takes the time to quip, which gives the Keeper a chance to grab him. The Keeper lifts Angel up over its head. The captioning indicates that Fred should be dubbed in here saying, "Angel's not gonna make it, is he?" as a little transition, but I guess they changed their minds.
Instead, we go back to the cage just in time to see Gunn kick the lock, and then Fred says, "I mean, it's starting not to look so good for us." Cary has assumed a Rodin-esque pose on the floor, while Wesley lurks in a corner. Gunn bounces up and down a little and kicks the lock again, making a tremendous clanging noise. Cary asks Gunn to stop, and Gunn says he will if someone suggests a better way to escape. Cary moans that they have no way to stop Jasmine even if they do break out. Gunn suggests a "one thing at a time" philosophy, which Angel would do well to adopt. Fred wonders why Connor left them unguarded. Gunn thinks that they were "getting to him," but Cary suggests that Jasmine summoned Connor for "some tender lovin' --" "Blood," Wesley mutters. Fred asks, "Is that some kind of ritual she has him do, 'cause...ew." Hey, you're the ones who cut his chest open and smeared blood on him, missy, so let's be less judgmental. Wesley explains, "I was just thinking, and so my mouth started working because I wasn't devoting all my concentration to being taciturn." He wonders why Cordelia was moved, and Gunn points out that, hello, they did a thing to de-thrall people using her blood, duh. Wesley argues that they're the only people who know about that, and if Cordy's a danger to Jasmine, "why not kill her and be done with it?" Er, maybe she did and didn't tell Connor? Isn't that what you were trying to convince him might have happened? But now you're secretly convinced that she really was relocated because...why? Anyway, this leads to Wesley's random conclusion that Jasmine can't hurt Cordelia, "but maybe Cordelia can hurt Jasmine." Gunn points out, "That's a whole lot of maybes." Wesley says, "Maybe." He says that Cordelia may be their only way to stop Jasmine. Cary points out that they'll have to wake Cordy up, first. Fred points out that they'll have to find Cordy before that. And, of course, they also have to get out of the cage and past the throngs in the lobby.
Tilt-a-cam shot of a church. The sign outside reads, "God is nowhere, Jasmine is the way!" Aw. Cute nod to, or from, Greenwalt. Connor hurries up to the church.
Inside the de-idoled church, the doors to the sanctuary have been sealed with concrete blocks and some boards. "Sealed" is actually a pretty big exaggeration. They've been rendered inconvenient; I can't see that actually keeping someone out for more than five minutes. Flashlights suddenly illuminate Connor, and two very happy cops greet him. They explain that nobody's allowed inside the church, by Jasmine's orders. Happy Cop amends that, noting that Jasmine doesn't really give orders, which is one of the things he loves about her. Connor interrupts, "I need to get in here." Happy Cop explains that if Connor won't leave, they'll have to get rough. But he issues the threat in a very happy way. Happier Cop adds, "Please." Is this what they mean by thought police?
The Happy Cops seem significantly less happy as they are smashed head-first through the barricaded door and quickly knocked out. At the front of the church, Cordy is lying under some cheesecloth. Or gauze. Or mosquito netting. I think cheesecloth is probably funnier. Connor mutters, "Found you," and walks toward her. I wonder if he's remembering his games of hide-and-seek with Holtz.
Jasmine's green glow fills the banquet room, which now contains nothing but scattered piles of empty clothes. And some tentacles, which curl in toward the glowiness until Jasmine reappears. That's a very pretty effect. I wish we saw more of the tentacles, but the devil hath power t'assume a pleasing shape. Jasmine rubs her stomach and says, "There. Time for my close-up." Heh.
After the ads, it's time for Connor's big soliloquy. There are lamps burning in the corners of the church, which seems a little strange. They closed the place up, blocked the doors, and left open flames burning near a comatose person? Maybe they're ecclesiastical nightlights or something. Connor opens by telling Cordy that "the new beginning" she wanted has started. He says, "It is better. Not harsh and cruel, the way that Angel likes it, so [that] he has a reason to fight." Cordy replies, "..." Connor whines that the MoG find meaning by fighting things and insists, "I'm not like them. I just...I want to stop. Stop fighting. I just want to rest." Luckily, Connor hasn't taken up bad habits like smoking. Instead, he just whispers, "But I can't." He's all tuckered out from fardel-bearing. He tells Cordy that he tried to believe. Cordy comfortingly suggests, "..." Actually, Connor's so screwed up that he should probably stick to talking to comatose people, because anything a conscious person might say is probably only going to make things worse at this point. Connor snaps, "She's bringing peace to everyone. Purging all of their hate. And anger!" This is the bit I like: he starts to laugh and adds, "But not me!" and then looks completely unhinged as he puts his hands over his face and repeats, "Not me!" See, the thing I like is, they've not only created a teenager who doesn't just feel like he's the most alienated person in the world -- he actually is. Connor stares at Cordy for a bit and finally admits that he knows Jasmine is a lie. "...," Cordy gasps. He explains, "My whole life's been built on them. I just...I guess I thought this one was better than the others." Y'know, that could have sucked so much. I do think it could have been trimmed a bit more, but that's mostly because Kartheiser is so good that you don't actually need him to verbalize everything.
At the hotel, various TV reporters are gibbering like...uh, TV reporters. A male anchor talks about how this will be "the most momentous day in recorded history." He reminds me of Stephen Colbert. Especially in the election special, when he talks about Bush's first day in office. Remember? Yeah, well, it was funny. Oh, Stephen Colbert... Where was I? Ah yes. Another anchor is speaking Spanish, and my eight years of various Spanish classes finally pay off when I can just manage to translate something about "this weekend." Look, they weren't eight particularly recent years.
Upstairs, Patience is trying to dissuade Silly Hat from bothering Jasmine. Silly Hat is now holding his Silly Hat in his hand, which means he's got Silly Hat Hair. Jasmine enters the hall, and Patience explains that someone attacked Silly Hat Hair. Silly Hat Hair falls to his knees and adds, "He forced me to tell him where I took her -- your mother." Jasmine sighs, "Connor." Patience reminds Jasmine that it's time for the press conference.
The crowd in the lobby starts oooing as Jasmine steps out onto the second-floor balcony. Much kneeling ensues. Jasmine asks everyone to stand up, and blows a kiss to everyone who is seeing her for the first time. She's pretty touchy-feely for a god. I don't really approve. We pan down to a flat-screen monitor so that we can see her telecast being transmitted. Jasmine insists that she is speaking "not as a leader or divinity, but as [their] partner in a venture to make this the best of all possible worlds." Her true name is Pangloss? She wonders what's so funny about peace, love, and understanding. The crowd applauds.
Gunn's still kicking the cage door. The MoG hear the faint applause, and Fred wonders what's going on. Wesley figures it's Jasmine's debut. Gunn sighs, "So, we're alone. It's just us, now."
In the lobby, Jasmine opens up the floor to questions. She calls on the blonde KTLA reporter we saw much earlier , addressing her as Tracy. Tracy stares, and asks, "You know my name?" Jasmine smiles, "That's right. You have a question?" Tracy happily repeats, "You know my name!" Hee. That's her only question. The not-Stephen-Colbert reporter asks what they can do to show their love for Jasmine. Jasmine says, "You don't have to do anything except love one another." Then she adds, "Although, a temple would be nice. Something massive and awe-inspiring -- yet warm and nurturing!" Her expression is wonderfully ingratiating there. She is interrupted by a sudden burst of blue electrical FX in the middle of the lobby. The crowd parts as a portal swirls open, and Angel steps out holding the orb. He's also very obviously holding something behind his back, which makes you think the people standing behind him should be reacting to it, except that he's only doing that for the audience, so I guess my point is that it looks terribly unnatural and they shouldn't have bothered. Angel looks up at Jasmine, who shouts, "Kill him!" The crowd closes in, but Angel quickly holds up the mysterious object behind his back, which turns out to be the severed head of the Keeper. The crowd inexplicably moves back. "Look out, he's got a prop!" they cry. Angel tells Jasmine, "I'm sorry," and pulls out a knife, then slashes open the stitching on the Keeper's mouth. The Keeper makes a noise like those suction hoses dentists use. Jasmine glows green again, and as she shimmers, her maggoty dummy-head starts to appear. The crowd stares, and we go back to the flat-screen monitor, where we can see a much improved CGI version of the maggoty dummy-head as Jasmine wails, "No!" The crowd starts to freak out, and Jasmine glows green again and tries to restore her appearance. She's not entirely successful; her skin is sort of burned looking and her eyes have gone blue. She calls to the crowd: "Pay no attention, it's a lie!" The audience has seen The Wizard of Oz before, so they head for the door. Jasmine cries, "Please, don't leave me!" Angel stares up at her. As Jasmine runs away, Angel heads upstairs after her.
Back in their cell, the MoG are trying to figure out why there's a lot of screaming upstairs. Gunn goes back to kicking as he grumps, "I'll tell you what it was -- the Devourer chowing down, and I'll bet you we're dessert." Wesley asks Gunn to stop wasting time with the door. Because Wesley is always wrong, on the kick, the door swings open. Yay, Gunn! Gunn says, "Never give up, never surrender." Heh. Wesley and Cary dash out the door while Gunn grouses about the lack of appreciation. Fred offers a quick "Thanks, Charles," as she slips out. Gunn follows, explaining, "I just want my props, is all."
Outside, there's a riot going on. I'm not sure why. I mean, I can understand people freaking out in a panic since the standard reaction to Jasmine's true face seems to be some mix of horror and despair, but why is there a flaming car? On the other hand, maybe in Los Angeles the normal response to "I'm frightened and upset!" is "Set that car on fire!" Jasmine walks down the street, and people scream things like "No!" and "Don't look at her!" They might just be reacting to her outfit, though. She's wearing some kind of flowing pants/skirt combo. It's like a skort, but long. I don't care for it. A woman spots Jasmine and shrieks in horror, and Jasmine pleads, "Don't be afraid, it's still me!" A man shouts "Lying bitch!" and throws a bottle at her. Jasmine moans, "Connor..."
At the church, Connor hears Jasmine saying, "Father, I need you. Help me." Connor realizes that the unconscious Happy Cop is channeling Jasmine, and runs out of the church.
Jasmine walks across a long overpass while cars screech past her. Angel seems to have finally caught up to her, which is odd, because she wasn't moving that quickly, so why'd it take him all this time to catch up with her? Anyway, Angel tells Jasmine that it's over. Jasmine whirls and asks if he knows what he's done. Angel duhs, "What I had to do." Jasmine insists, "There are no absolutes, no right and wrong. Haven't you learned anything [from] working for the Powers? There are only choices." Angel says she was taking their choices away. Jasmine sneers, "And look where free will has gotten you." Angel replies, "Hey, I didn't say we were smart," heh, "I said it's our right! It's what makes us human." That and setting cars on fire. Jasmine points out that Angel isn't human, and he grumbles, "Working on it." Jasmine is all, "Leave me alone," and Angel's all, "Can't do that," and it's really entertaining how low-key this confrontation is. Jasmine says that she's lost everything, but adds that Angel can't kill her, since that'll be important later. Angel insists, "I'll die before I let you hurt anyone else." Jasmine, completely exasperated, shouts, "You're already dead!" Arguing with Angel would frustrate even a god. Angel sighs, "You know what I mean," because she's ruining all of his ultimatums. Jasmine asks why he hates her, and Angel goes over the list: "Rain of fire, blotting out the sun, enslaving mankind, and, oh yeah, hey -- you eat people!" Jasmine sniffs, "Like you never have." Angel says that she's responsible for thousands of deaths. Jasmine argues, "I murdered thousands to save billions. This world is doomed to drown in its own blood now. What is't to me, when you yourselves are cause, if your pure maidens fall into the hand of hot and forcing violation? What rein can hold licentious wickedness when down the hill he holds his fierce career?" Or words to that effect. Angel says that the price was too high, adding in a dull, unconvincing monotone, "Our fate has to be our own, or we're nothing." He tries for a reconciliation, and says, "It's not the world that you wanted, but maybe you could still help us make it better, even if you have lost your powers." Heh heh heh. He's offering a god a chance at redemption. Heh heh heh. Jasmine says, "Not all of them," and clobbers Angel. This is where I got confused the first time. Angel goes flying through the air and lands on a car. Only later does it become clear that she knocked him off the overpass and into the street below. Luckily, there's a commercial break so that we can all sort it out.
I call Johanna, and we debate Gunn's ability to open the cell door. Johanna asks, "If Gunn could do that, couldn't Angelus have escaped?" I figure that they had cameras on Angelus, and if he'd started trying, they'd have given him a tranq. And presumably the only reason nobody heard the clanging of Gunn's kicks was because there was a crowd of gibbering reporters in the lobby. So, yeah, odd, but I'm willing to accept it.
When we return, Jasmine is picking up a station wagon. Angel tells the driver of the car he landed on to run. Other people are saying "run" more loudly, because Jasmine is now holding the station wagon over the edge of the overpass. It bugs me that the car is level instead of tilted up so that the weight is balanced. I know; she's holding a car, and I'm worried about the unrealistic way she's balancing it. I don't choose which things bug me. Jasmine shouts, "Think the price was too high? You haven't begun to pay!" and throws the station wagon down. As it falls, it severs some high-tension electrical wires. Angel rolls off the car, and the wagon, and wires, hit it, causing a big explosion. Whee! I guess flaming cars aren't uniquely human after all. But we still do it the best! Jasmine steps up onto the railing and leaps down, and I suppose the shot of that from beneath explains why she's wearing pants. As Angel tries to get up, Jasmine walks toward him saying, "Maybe I can still make this world a better place." She kicks him about fifty feet and concludes, "One body at a time." She rants about how much she sacrificed to be in this world. "So you could rule us," Angel gasps. "Because I cared!" Jasmine insists. "The other Powers don't. Never really did. You know that's true in your heart!" As she stands over him she adds, "Shame now I gotta rip it out." Angel suddenly grabs one of the severed wires and zaps her with it. Jasmine is thrown back into a fence, but quickly stands up, smoking a little. She sneers that she was "forged in the inferno of creation," so electricity isn't going to hurt her. Angel, naturally, resorts to his backup plan of fisticuffs. That has the expected effect, and then Jasmine throws him through a lamppost and asks if he remembers the prophecy that he'd play a major role in the apocalypse. She says, "You never knew if you'd be on the side of good or evil. Well, now you know." She hauls Angel up and explains, "Thanks to you, this frail little Power That Was has just enough strength in her to wipe out your whole species." Of vampires? Score! Angel punches her and says this isn't his fault. Jasmine twists his arm back, and Angel adds, "Go to hell." Jasmine says, "You first, baby," and grabs his head and kisses him. Um. That's strange. Is this how she eats people? Luckily, they're interrupted. By Connor, who has arrived just in time to sigh, "Always the same, Dad. I get a girl, you gotta make a play for her." Jasmine releases a struggling Angel and smiles, "Connor!"
The MoG look around the deserted Hyperion. Fred says it's creepy, and Cary adds, "Only in a post-apocalyptic, Night of the Comet kind of way." The floor is littered with TV equipment and other abandoned items. Cary checks the monitor and says, "The TV station's gone offline. Something big went down." They need TiVo. Hey, if someone taped Jasmine's broadcast, and showed it to someone else, but then stopped the tape before her spell was broken, what would happen? Does her magic still work? Does this become like The Ring somehow? Gunn finds the Keeper's severed head and shows it to everyone, and it looks really unconvincing when you have more than a second to look at it. As we do now. Wesley figures that Angel made it back, and says, "We have to find him and Cordelia quickly, before Jasmine does." They all head for the door.
Then there's a reverse shot of the MoG standing in the doorway and staring in wonder. "Oh my God," Fred gasps." Apparently, many people developed theories about what the MoG were reacting to here, and a lot of people thought it was Cordy. I honestly just thought they were reacting to the riots going on outside, which I thought was silly, because they should be used to that by now.
Angel seems to be taking a breather while Connor and Jasmine catch up. Jasmine tells Connor, "Angel's ruined everything, but he can't defeat both of us." In fact, he couldn't even defeat her alone, so I'm not sure why she's acting like Connor's there just in the nick of time. Or is she trying to make sure Connor feels useful? That's nice of her, I suppose. Angel pants and blinks to hilarious effect. Jasmine asks, "You still believe in me, don't you? You still love me." Connor rather sweetly says, "Yes." Jasmine turns to Angel happily, and Connor plunges his fist through her head. Ewwwwww. Jasmine's body falls. Angel goes on gasping and blinking, but now he's got reason. Connor stares down at Jasmine, and slowly lifts his eyes to Angel. Angel says, "Connor, it's okay. It's over." Then he goes for the Biggest Understatement Ever award as he says, "I know this difficult for you. I'm just happy to have you." Connor's somehow unmoved by that, and turns away. Angel tries saying "Connor," in as many different tones as he can think of (five) while Connor slowly lopes off down the street, past another inexplicable burning car.
Back at the Hyperion, the MoG have changed clothes. Which is a little bit odd, I suppose, but my goodness, they needed to. And it'd probably take Angel a while to walk home in the state he's in. Plus, they all look so shiny and clean! They hurry out into the lobby as Angel enters. He's not shiny and clean. He's still got the bloody shirt-puncture from Yuckmeister, which pleases me. On seeing the MoG, Angel gasps, "Oh my God, you're alive!" Which is sort of a shame, in that, yes, he had reason to think they were dead. But if he thought they'd been killed, he really shouldn't have been so conciliatory with Jasmine. Angel tells them that he removed Jasmine's powers, and sighs, "Connor killed her." Wesley starts to interrupt, but Angel goes on heavily, "I've never seen him like this. He wasn't hurt, or angry. He just killed her. And his face was just blank, like he had nothing left." Wesley tries again, but Angel's not done. He worries that Connor has given up, adding, "I think he's gonna do something... He might --" "End world peace?" Lilah asks. Angel looks over to where a resuscitated (or perhaps not) Lilah is leaning against the office door. She smirks, "You already took care of that. Congratulations!" She looks different. No, it's not the scarf around her neck, although that is funny. It took me a while to figure it out: her hair is parted on the left. Usually it's parted on the right. That's sort of a lame ending for this recap, isn't it? How about this: imagine Lilah running into Lindsey again. "Remember how you kept whining about getting your hand cut off? C'mere, let me show you something..."
time, the MoG's dreams come true. Y'know, last time that sort of thing happened, we got Angelus. And Minear's writing the episode. I'm just saying.