Season 2, Episode 6
Written by Jane Espenson
Directed by Krishna Rao
Original Airdate: 7 November 2000
“You don’t have to sing. A break for you, a break for me, and a break for Manilow.”
Lorne
REGULAR CAST
- David Boreanaz as Angel
- Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
- Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
- J. August Richards as Charles Gunn
GUEST CAST
- Andy Hallett as Lorne
- Art LeFleur as T’ish Magev
- Brigid Brannagh as Virginia Bryce
- Patrick Kilpatrick as Paul Lanier
- Todd Susman as Magnus Bryce
CO-STARRING
- Danica Sheridan as Yeska
- Saul Stein as Benny
- Frankie Jay Allison as Thug #1
- Michael Yama as Japanese Man #1
- Eiji Inoue as Japanese Man #2
- Ed Trotta as Man
SYNOPSIS
A potential client shows up at the hotel, in need of Angel’s services, but he’s not there and Wesley isn’t the greatest example of a professional. Angel tries to hunt down Darla at Wolfram and Hart, but Cordelia and Wesley stop him. Angel consults the demon host at the karaoke bar, and without having to sing, the host refers Angel to Swami, T’ish Magev, for help. Cordelia and Wesley hold down the office while Angel is away, both glad that he is seeking help to calm his obsession with Darla.
At the office, a thug holds Cordelia at gunpoint, demanding to see Angel, and Wesley is forced to pose as their vampire boss in order to save her. At a quiet cabin, Angel talks with the unusually normal-looking Swami about his choice of clothing, style of car, and brand of hair gel. A rich businessman, Magnus Bryce is in need of Angel’s services to protect his daughter from threats presented by a business opponent, Paul Lanier. He offers Wesley blood that he forces down, to keep from ruining his cover. Wesley meets the Mr. Bryce’s daughter, Virginia, and then the two go shopping.
Cordelia sends Gunn to find Angel while she researches the man who took Wesley. Wesley and Virginia talk about her relationship with her father until two men working for Paul Lanier try to kidnap Virginia. Angel and the Swami fight with pool sticks and Angel gets his butt kicked because he doesn’t want to hurt the man. Later, the Swami talks Paul Lanier over the phone, revealing that he’s a fake. Since Angel is with an associate posing as a Swami, Lanier informs Bryce that there is a fake protecting his daughter.
Cordelia finds a picture of the man who took Wesley in a magazine. Angel and the fake Magev fish and Angel is advised to find a blond woman to love then break the heart of so he will feel better about his situation with Darla. Virginia and Wesley talk about how she wants freedom from the prison her father’s created for her, then the two kiss. The curse is an obstacle at first, but Wesley dispels the truth about the curse and the two have sex.
Gunn arrives at the swami cabin, but the fake swami knocks him out. Angel witnesses this, and uses a fishing poll to pull the man out of the sun and into his grasp. Cordelia arrives at the Bryce home, but before she can rescue Wesley, Virginia finds out that he’s not really Angel. In order to get a significant amount of power from a Davric demon, Bryce plans to sacrifice his daughter. Angel and Wesley conclude that Lanier was trying to prevent the sacrifice so that Bryce wouldn’t get the power.
Bryce starts the ritual of sacrificing his daughter, but Angel and crew interrupt. Yeska appears, but won’t take Virginia as a sacrifice because she is not a virgin. Furious about her father’s actions, Virginia punches him and disassociates herself from him. After reading an article in a magazine, both Cordelia and Angel are jealous of the fact that Wesley is embellishing on his work and getting a lot of attention as Virginia’s bodyguard.
TRIVIA
This episode marks the first time that someone other than David Boreanaz narrates the Previously on Angel… passage at the start of the episode. Charisma Carpenter does it for the first time here, while in later episodes, Alexis Denisof, Elisabeth Rohm, Vincent Kartheiser, Amy Acker, J. August Richards and Andy Hallett all participate.
This episode sees the first of four appearances for Brigid Brannagh as Virginia Bryce.
CONTINUITY
Wesley has sex in this episode, although he had an off-screen relationship with a bleached blonde in the previous episode.
Wesley refers to his past as a ‘rogue demon hunter.’
Lorne references Angel singing Barry Manilow, which he did in Judgement.
There are many references to Angel’s curse, highlighting it’s conception from Angel, the loss of it in Innocence and it’s origin in flashbacks from Becoming (Part 1). Darla is also referenced, including her return in To Shanshu in L.A. and how she sired Angel, which was seen in flashback in The Prodigal.
GOOFS
Look carefully and you can see the guard at Wolfram & Hart has his shoe punctured before Angel stabs it.
It’s not clear in this episode how Angel gets into the house, since no one invited him. It’s remotely possible that Magnus inviting Wesley as Angel in might be sufficient and that invitation thus extends to Angel as well.
When Wesley heads for Virginia’s bedroom he is wearing glasses, and then a fight begins and he’s still wearing his glasses. In the next shot his glasses are gone with no indication where they went.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
EPISODE
Dear Boy / Darla
STORY ORDER
Family / Fool for Love
The Watcher's Guide 