That Old Gang of Mine

Written by Tim Minear
Directed by Fred Keller

Lizbet's Synopsis | Lizbet's Review

Gunn has nightmares about his kid sister Alonna. He dreams of her as a vampire, and of himself staking her. He's woken by his beeper.

He joins Angel and Wes in Merl's place, and Angel is mildly surprised to see him. He points at the various blobs around the room as "Merl." Angel apparently found him in pieces when he stopped by to try apologizing again. Wes is deep in detective mode and only just notices Gunn, exhibiting the same surprise that Angel did. He asks Gunn if Gunn noticed anything odd the previous night when he dropped Merl off, and hands Gunn Merl's private papers, to study further back at the hotel. Gunn asks why they are bothering to investigate this crime scene. A demon got killed; well, they do that every day, right? Angel asks if there is something Gunn had rather be doing, since it took him two hours to answer his page (hence the mild surprise when he finally showed up). Gunn asks when Angel became boss again. Wesley steps in to stop their bickering and suggests that Gunn go home. Angel says, "Little creep," and then specifies that he means Merl, not Gunn. Merl had complained that Angel never really tried to get to know him. Now, to solve his murder, Angel will have to.

We enjoy a very pretty shot of a industrial building through a loop of razor-sharp barbed wire as Gunn's truck pulls up outside of said building. Inside the building, a whipcord-lean guy with a staff attacks Gunn, who fights him to the ground in a few economical movements, pining him to the ground with the staff. A loaded crossbow prods Gunn behind his ear as a cool and cocky voice suggests that's not a good idea. Gunn's old friend Rondell comes out to call the new guy, Gio, off of Gunn. Rondell is proud of the crew being as good as when Gunn was in charge. Gio recognizes the name Gunn. Apparently he came from Miami to join up with Gunn's group. But now he just wants to make digs on Gunn for working with a vampire. Rondell reminds Gio that he's on guard duty, and he leaves, with just one more parting shot.

We join Angel trying to talk Cordelia into talking to Fred. Cordy protests that it isn't that she doesn't like Fred, it's that she doesn't understand Fred. Angel wants her to encourage Fred to get out of the hotel more, and Cordelia points out that Fred's fears of the outside world aren't exactly unjustified. But because no one can prevail when Angel does the serious bed, she agrees. Angel picks up a paper that has his name on the head of a list of Merl's enemies and protests vociferously. Cordelia points out that Angel paid an unusual social visit -- and Merl ends up dead. "Oh, sure," scoffs Angel. "I went *dark* and I killed Merl." Both Cordelia and Wesley just *look* at a leather-pant-wearing Angel. To placate Angel, Wesley says they will work backwards on the list, ending at the A's.

Rondell and Gunn are having a heart-to-heart. Gunn tries to blame his absence on grief over George's death, but Rondell blames it on Alonna's death. Gunn acknowledges that he didn't know how he was supposed to keep his crew safe if he couldn't even keep his sister safe. Rondell tells him that a lot of people are alive because of what Gunn started.

Angel and Wes are investigating one of the names on the "Merl's Enemies" list. They don't know if Samual Larch, a bookie who Merl owed money, is a human or a demon, so Angel kicks down the door and charges in. Angel doesn't get bounced back, so demon. Well, actually, it doesn't matter, because Larch is dead -- yellow ochre all over the place. Ick. Chilled by the amount of destruction, Angel says they need Gunn.

A huge monster is shambling through the sewers, a creepy-breathing sound that almost outstrips Darth Vader for sheer menace echoing through the tunnel. It turns around, and turns out to be sucking on a Big Gulp, and looks adorably harmless as it calls out to whatever is behind him. It then runs (shuffles) in terror, until it is caught against a grate. Someone shouts, "Smoke him Gio!" as we see Annoying Dude with the crossbow.

Back at Larch's apartment, Wesley pulls the head of an arrow that looks like the one that Gio was digging into Gunn's neck and drops it in an evidence bag. Gunn shows up and they basically play the same routine as at Merl's place, with Gunn's attitude ramped up after having been dissed by his old gang. If it isn't human, or a vision from The Powers That Be, he doesn't know why they are bothering. But when Gunn notices the evidence bag with the arrowhead, and realizes it's from the crossbow the Gio was using, he stops giving attitude. He pockets the bag, and offers to hit the streets to find more information. Wesley agrees, and Gunn beelines straight for Rondell. Gunn's thought is that someone in the gang is a rogue, attacking everything in sight, but Rondell explains that it was an organized hit, they all were there. Rondell gets called away by a guy who is helping hand out what looks like semi automatics. Rondell invites him on an attack to clear out a "nest" -- of what is patently not of interest -- and Gunn declines. Gio decides to run his mouth off at Gunn some more, and can he be dead now, please?

Wesley is puzzling over the evidence in the lobby of the Hyperion. It doesn't make sense, and he's missing one of his evidence bags. Angel pushes Cordy out to have an extremely awkward conversation with Fred in the garden court. Cordelia manages to convey to Fred that it would be good for her to get out of the hotel, see something, anything. Fred agrees, saying that with Cordelia around no one will look at her. Cordelia tries to boost her self-esteem by saying all eyes will be on her, which is the opposite of what Fred wanted to hear.

Gunn is brooding on the arrowhead he lifted from the crime scene. He walks into the Hyperion and Angel is the only one there. Angel is of the opinion that the seeming randomness of the attacks follow a logical pattern -- of enjoyment. Gunn asks where Wesley is, and we cut to Caritas, where Fred is on the stage singing a really, really bad version of "Crazy" by Patsy Cline (Cordy says, "I swear to God she picked out the song herself.") Gunn walks in (perfectly, given their relationship later in the season, on the line, "I knew you'd love me as long as you wanted") and leans against the bar, in some serious deep thought. Lorne comes up behind him and Gunn defensively tells Lorne not to read him. Lorne says he wouldn't if Gunn would stop displaying his every thought. While Gunn is trying to psych himself up to sing, guys with machine guns come into Caritas. One of them shoots a demon, and the blood sprays onto Fred, up on stage, and she falls. Gunn and Lorne duck behind the bar, and Wes and Cordy push their table over and hide behind it. Gio comes in and yodels about the par-ty!

Lorne is in mourning for his club while Wesley notices that Fred is still on the stage and without any cover, so Wesley dashes over to rescue her. He scoops her up and carries her over to the table he and Cordelia are shielding themselves behind. Wes and Cordy exposit that demon violence is not allowed in Caritas but human violence is. Meanwhile, Gio is being his obnoxious self, calling for Gunn to step out and show himself, and saying anyone who would come here is a demon-lover. Gunn tries to get Rondell to take the crew out peacefully, but Rondell wants to know what's going on. Wesley stands up to support Gunn, and then Lorne emerges from behind the bar. Wesley realizes that this is the crew that has been killing demons, and that Gunn knew. Rondell claims that all that they've been doing is protecting their own, and what they've killed aren't people. Wesley reminds him that he was shot protecting Rondell. Gunn bargains to get Cordy, Wes and Fred out of Caritas, and tosses his keys to Cordy. Rondell says that only Cordy can leave, but Cordy refuses to leave without Fred. They drag Fred away from her and say that she can leave after Cordy brings Angel. Cordy, seriously torn, finally leaves.

At the Hyperion, Cordy is trying to talk Angel out of going to Hyperion. He can't hit anything, he's only walking into their trap. Angel asks her to go to the transuding furies that Lorne hires to enchant the club and ask them to drop the enchantment disallowing demon violence. Angel says that they'll do it -- for him.

Hostage situation. Gio is up on the stage singing Wind Beneath My Wings, as demons and humans huddle around. One very sorry looking demon keeps muttering, "Oh God, oh God, oh God." The mike starts whining feedback, and Gio shoots the speaker, mockingly addressing the words of the song to Gunn. Lorne breaks in to say, simply, "Miami." Of course our smart little green demon has been reading Gio while he sang. Whatever happened in Miami, it involved Gio betraying someone who trusted him. Gio backhands him to get him to shut up, and Lorne turns back with a smile and if you've ever imagined that such a sweet soul could be scary -- ramp it up about fifteen times. Maaaaaaaaaaaaaan, I wouldn't want to meet a pissed-off Lorne in a dark alley.

One of the demons jumps up and makes a run for the door. In the confusion, Gunn manages to wrest away a gun and points it at Gio, and the rest of the gang aim at him. Gio points at the demon pinned at the door and says that Gunn is as bad as him, a baby-killing demon. Gunn calls the rest of them monsters, Gio taunts Gunn with the idea that he's always wanted to be a demon, but he's not good enough for even then. Maybe he got Alonna captured and turned just so she could turn him, and then staked her when she refused. The baby-killing demon by the door rumbles a frightening monologue about eating babies. The noise crescendos until Gunn finally turns and shoots the baby-killing demon to shut him up.

Angel arrives and asks if he's next. Rondell takes the gun off of Gunn and offers him a stake, telling him to prove that he isn't a demon lover. Wesley tries to argue with the gang that Angel is different, he has a soul. Gio says that doesn't make him the same as them. Wesley says that at least when Angel did his pleasure-killing, he did it without a soul. Angel steps closer to Gunn and morphs into game face, saying it'll make it easier. "Deal with it or don't. But make a damn choice."

Cordelia is dealing with the transuding furies, who are mostly occupied with cooing over Angel. They first say that they can't lift something that had been put in place, but keep getting distracted when Cordelia says the name Angel. She tries to bribe them, and finds that she doesn't have what they want. Ahem.

Gunn finally drops the stake and refuses to kill Angel. Gio takes that as proof that Gunn is a demon-lover. Gunn says that he's not refusing to kill Angel because Angel is his friend. He isn't. He's choosing Angel over the gang because Angel's got the right mission, and is helping people. Gio offers that anyone who will kill Angel can walk out of here alive. After a long moment, Fred stands up and takes the crossbow, apologizing but saying she doesn't want to die. Angel quietly says he understands as she aims the crossbow at him. Without warning, she turns and aims the crossbow at Gio, explaining that all she needs to do is hit one of his carotid arteries to cause massive bloodloss and a cerebral vascular event -- or a stroke, to normal people. Angel tries to talk her down, tries to get her to point the crossbow at him again, but when Fred glances at him, Gio rips the crossbow out of her hands. He points it at Angel while a flash of watery blue light floods Caritas. Angel glances up, thanks the furies, and knocks the bow out of Gio's hands. It turns into a nice messy free-for-all fight. In the middle of it, the nebbish demon who was whimpering earlier gets more agitated, morphes into a much bigger insect-like demon, and bites off Gio's head. (Insert sound file of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus.)

That seems to end the fight, as we cut to outside Caritas, where Wesley is helping Fred into a taxi. Gunn and Rondell are having a quiet conversation, and Gunn walks over to Wesley to say that they aren't likely to see them around anymore. Wesley sympathizes with Gunn's pull of divided loyalties, and then lays clearly out that if Gunn withholds information and jeopardizes the mission again he will be unequivocally fired. Wesley gets into the taxi with Fred and they drive away, leaving Gunn and Angel in the alley. Gunn challenges Angel to call him on what he said inside, about Angel not being his friend, claiming that he was stalling. Angel says that no, he understands that Gunn meant it, and that it's okay. Gunn says that at least this proves that Angel can trust him, since he had a chance to kill him and didn't. Angel says that he'll trust Gunn when Angel needs killing and Gunn actually does it. They both walk off.

END

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