The Ring

Season 1, Episode 16
Written by Howard Gordon
Directed by Nick Marck
Original Airdate: 29 February 2000

“Someone ought to create an intra-demon dating base. You know like Archfiend.org, where the lonely and the slimy connect.”
Cordelia

REGULAR CAST

David Boreanaz as Angel
Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce

GUEST CAST

Markus Redmond as Tom Cribb
Douglas Roberts as Darin MacNamara
Scott William Winters as Jack MacNamara
Stephanie Romanov as Lilah Morgan

CO-STARRING

Anthony Guidera as Ernie Nellins
Chris Flanders as Mr. Winslow
Marc Rose as Mellish
David Kallaway as Doorman
Juan A. Riojas as Val Trepkos
Michael Philip as Announcer
Mark Ginther as Lasovic
Nicki Sixteen as Club Dancer

SYNOPSIS

Cordelia checks out a demon database and then argues with Wesley about dating and their histories of it. A badly beaten man named Darin Macnamara comes to the office, needing Angel to find his brother who was kidnapped by demons. Darin tells them that his brother Jack was in debt with his bookie, Ernie Nellins. Angel visits the Ernie, and for some money is sent to an underground location in Beechwood Canyon where Jack supposedly is.

Instead of Jack, Angel is attacked by two Howler demons and then holds one down while he gets information from it. At a club, XXI, where Jack has supposedly been sold to, Angel sneaks in through a window and spies on the activities inside. In a ring surrounded by the rich, two demons fight each other to the death. Angel spots Jack, but when he follows him, he discovers that it was all a trap Darin and Jack set for him. Angel is electrocuted and drops to the ground, unconscious.

Angel wakes up in a cage with a metal wristband and another demon as a roommate. He is informed that he has to kill twenty-one times before he is released and the wristband is removed. If any of the prisoners cross the red lines on the ground, or surrounding the ring, they will disintegrate. Cordelia and Wesley are worried about Angel and Wesley goes after him. While the other captives eat their food and Angel talks with some of the other guys. Cribb, one of the other demons, acts mean, but Angel makes it clear that he’s not bothered.

They are informed of the fights for that night, and when one of the demons jumps the barrier and disintegrates Angel takes his place in a fight. In the ring, Angel reluctantly fights. Cordelia and Wesley pose as detectives in order to steal the tickets of another couple. Once inside, they witness their boss fighting and try to assess the situation. After a knife is thrown into the ring and Angel’s opponent attacks, Angel is forced to kill him.

On his way back into the back room, Angel tries to convince another demon, Val Trepkos not to kill. The other demon is hardly affected by Angel’s plan, but does agree to kill his opponent quickly. Darin leaves one of the metal cuffs on the barrier surrounding the ring, which Cordelia craftily steals. Back at Angel’s place, Wesley studies the cuff to see if he can figure out the secret of opening it. Angel reaches across the barrier and grabs Jack. Holding him hostage, he finds little support from the other demons, and when Darin arrives he shoots both his brother and Angel.

Angel is electrocuted again and when he awakes, he is in the office of a lawyer at Wolfram and Hart. In exchange for ignoring that the fight club exists, Angel would get freedom. Not interested in the law firm’s offer, Angel willingly returns to the demonic group and finds that he will be the 21st fight of Trepkos. Wesley is unsuccessful in finding a way to open the cuff until Cordelia suggests horsehair, and it works. Angel enters the ring with Trepkos and at first gets beaten badly. Large wooden sticks are thrown into the ring. Trepkos stabs Angel with one of the sticks.

Wesley tries to get Cribb to help him, but Cribb steals the horsehair key capable of opening the wristbands. In the ring, both Angel and Trepkos have the opportunity to kill the other but surprisingly, both don’t kill the other. Darin gives orders to kill the two fighters when he sees they’re refusing to fight, but the Cribb and the others from the back room charge out and save their fellow demons. Darin enters the ring and the demons place one of the metal bracelets on him. Trepkos throws him across one of the red barriers and he designates. As they all leave, Angel, Wesley, and Cordelia all realize that they just set a bunch of demons free in Los Angeles.

TRIVIA

The character of Tom Cribb is based on the boxer Tom Cribb (1781–1848), who was one of England’s most celebrated champions of the bare knuckle era.

Tim Minear comments on the contradiction Wolfram & Hart exhibited in this episode, offering to free Angel, provided he leaves them alone, yet later hire an assassin to kill him in Five by Five: “At the point Faith was involved, they wanted him dead, but not now. […] I think if you have a little patience, it will all make sense.”

Markus Redmond, who portrays Tom Cribb in this episode, also portrayed Griff in the episode Rm. w/a Vu.

Mark Ginther, who portrays Lasovic in this episode, also portrays the dealer head demon in The Prodigal and Jonathan’s demon form in Life Serial.

CONTINUITY

When Cordelia is browsing the demon database, Wesley asks her if they have “the Vigories of Oden Tal,” the demons the AI team fought against in the episode She.

Angel has his first contact with Lilah Morgan; the lawyer will dedicate her career to dealing with him in the name of Wolfram & Hart until their final alliance in Home. She’s played by Stephanie Romanov, who becomes the most frequent recurring cast member on the series.

GOOFS

When Angel first wakes up in his cell, he asks the demon next to him: “Hablo Español?” This actually means “I speak Spanish?” “Hablas Español?” is the accurate translation.

At 36:13, whilst fighting with Val Trepkos, the red ring on Angel’s vest, a result of having been shot earlier in the episode, switches from the right side of his chest to the left before switching back in the next scene.

When Angel enters the sewers, during the camera pan around the room, some lighting equipment is clearly visible in the right side of the shot.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

EPISODE
The Prodigal / Eternity

STORY ORDER
Superstar / Where the Wild Things Are