Guise Will Be Guise

Written by Jane Espenson
Directed by Krishna Rao

Dianne's Synopsis | Lizbet's Review | SunSpeak

We start out with Wesley alone in the office, having A Very Bad Day. The file drawer he tries to open pulls loose and crashes to the floor, just as a new client comes in. He's trying to clean up while welcoming the customer and manages to both hit his head on the underside of the drawer and then go sliding on the spilled papers and fall on his ass. The client, already unimpressed with being "foisted off on a secretary" leaves in disgust.

By the time Cordelia arrives to insult his wardrobe, he's pretty much past caring. She announces that she's found Angel and they have to go stop him "before it's too late."

Cut to a security guard roaming some lower, deserted hallways at W&H. After he passes, Angel and Gunn creep out of a floor vent. Spotting to suited figures down the hall, they duck quickly into an elevator. But, too late-- a well-placed briefcase stops the closing doors.

It's wielded by Cordelia. She hits a button to hold the doors open as she explains they've come to the rescue, Angel hits the button to close the doors as he asks how they got in. <open> They used the front door. <closed> They just let you in? <open> "See? *Lawyers*!" Cordelia demonstrates, donning glasses. <closed> He doesn't need their help. <open> Yes he does. <closed> He has to find Darla <open> But they have vampire detectors, remember? <closed> It's cool, as Gunn assures them that he's just "along for the ride", Angel has a plan....

Turns out the "plan" is for Angel to beat security, which throws Gunn as well ("That's the plan? Walking real quick was the plan???"). Finally they argue long enough security arrives, baton/stake in hand. Angel pins the guy's foot to the floor with it and walks off, undeterred.

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[credits]
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And we're at Caritas. Two drunken Japanese businessmen are wandering through "I Got You Babe" on stage, while the crew sits back and explains the set-up to Gunn. Angel's at the bar basically telling the Host that he's overwrought and tied up in knots. The Host gives him a freebie pass on the singing for once and just gives him the name of a Tish-ne-Gev [sp?] ('swami') in Ojai who can give Angel more help than the Host can. (Cordelia is less-than-sucessful at hiding her delighted relief when she hears they're skipping Angel's solo for the evening. ;)

So Angel's heading up the coast in the convertible. [Note from an L.A. girl: If you know the LA freeway system, you can tell the quick driving clips were actually shot on Pacific Coast Highway, which is, in fact, how you would get up to Ojai. Fun with details! <g>] Meanwhile, back at the offices, Wesley is pondering the possibilities of psychiatry through magic, and Cordelia's doing a fun I-know-my-boss-way-too-well imitation of Angel.

Angel arrives at a secluded cabin in the woods, where the door is opened by an unpreposessing middle-aged man with dishtowel in hand. He introduces himself as the 'swami' and invites a slightly disconcerted Angel in.

Back at the hotel, Cordelia's closing up when she's grabbed from behind by a thug. He insists she produce Angel ASAP or he'll kill her. Wesley hears this from the next room and takes action, and just in time, since the thug isn't believing her protests that Angel's not there. Wesley comes striding into the room, wearing the black trenchcoat, and tells the thug that *he* is Angel.

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In the cabin's living room the swami is tying fishing lures while suggesting that Angel's convertible (for a vampire? in sunny LA?) practically advertises Angel's self-loathing. [Ed. --The guy's got a serious point when he suggests at least he get personalized plates reading "IRONY" <g>] Angel insists that it's just a car, and that he does the all-black layered look because he can't match colors in a mirror. The swami points out that he is reflected-- in the people around him. What do they see?

Cut to Wesley standing in for the boss. The thug insists "Angel" come with him, and they go to a nice quiet mansion. The thug makes a point of inviting the "vampire" in, leading to a quick-reflex backward jump on Wesley's part before the guy notices he was already in the door. <g> 

Two men are walking into the front hall, discussing "business" in a way that suggests a mob-boss tete-a-tete is concluding. Wesley notices discreet veiled figures apparently standing (mystical) guard. One man leaves and the other greets "Angel" -- he is Magnus, the owner of the place and someone Wesley recognizes as a prominent businessman. Magnus apologizes for the rude manner of their introduction, but he is desperate and needs help protecting someone very dear to him. (He does not forget the formalities, though, and in order to maintain his charade Wesley is forced to take a good swig of the glass of fresh blood that was poured for him-- much to his complete disgust and internal distress.)

Magnus is a businessman, true, but the software and communications empire is a front for the true family business: wizardry. Specifically, custom-designed spells for those who can afford them. It's a cut-throat business and he has many rivals (like the man from the hall, whose firm is into "wishgranting"), and someone (maybe from there, maybe from "Consolidated Curses" or the like) is threatening Mangus' daughter-- his only family. 

Magnus has tried all his protection spells, but the attackers are in the business, and have managed to get inside the house twice, in addition to the written and phoned threats. "Angel" has been conscripted into playing bodyguard to the daughter. (Although he is to be paid well, he's not being given a choice in the matter.)

In Ojai the swami is pointing out that Angel's image is not his true self, and wondering how he can fight the forces of Hell while he's still fighting himself.

Meanwhile Wesley is introduced to the daughter, Virginia -- a unimpressed twenty-something who seems less-than-thrilled at the pains her father's taking to protect her. Catching sight of himself in her dressing mirror "Angel" suddenly yelps, jumps backward out of range, and insists that it be covered. He then manages to cover his momentary panic attack with a reasonably plausible story about "strategy" against possible opponents. Wesley's starting to get the hang of this charade.

He sends the father out into the hall and levels with Virginia as much as he can. No, as she suspected, he was hijacked into this, but he figures he might as well do the job well. She's apparently been stuck in her room a lot ("There have been a lot of threats over the years. Every time there's a new one, I buy a bookshelf."), and seems ready to rebel against yet another bodyguard, but Wesley's sincerity in wanting to protect her gets through. So she decides she wants to go shopping....

Meanwhile Cordelia has called Gunn and explained what happened. She sends him to Ojai to fetch Angel while she tries to track down Wesley through mugshots and/or a police record on the thug. She's really worried about Wesley...

... who is accompanying Virgina through a *very* posh occult museum/boutique. She's shopping for her father's upcoming 50th birthday, looking at images of the Goddess Theyeska [sp?], her father's "favorite creepy deity". Wesley is able to spot (and warn her off) a fake talisman, impressing her a bit. She once loved the magic the way her father still does, but by now feels like just another one of his valuable possessions.

As she's confessing this to Wesley, two goons (from the Wishgranting firm it turns out) come up, take her arms, and try to walk her out of there. When she calls to "Angel" for help, the goons respond to the name, and Wesley is able to take that response and make them flee through pure intimidation. This does impress Virginia.

Ojai again, and the swami is having Angel fight him with quarterstaffs. He keeps maintaining that Angel is fighting _himself_, and must let go more in order to win. When Angel counters that if he lost control, the demon would kill his opponent, the swami makes the point that the demon _is_ him, and already does control him.

Later, we see the swami on the phone, advising Paul from Wishgranting that he may not be able to keep up this "Yoda gag" for much longer. (Plus Angel is likely to pick up on the smell of blood from the real swami's dead body pretty soon.) Ramon, the Host's bartender, apparently tipped them that he was on the way up and this guy is supposed to keep Angel busy there all weekend. Paul is thrown to hear that Angel's in Ojai, when he's just "seen" him at Magnus' house. The big question then: "So who's the English guy?"

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Cordelia's still slowly paging through the on-line mug book when she lets herself be distracted by a glossy magazine on the desk. Looking up "celeb photos" she stumbles upon a shot of Magnus and his daughter... with the thug she's looking for clearly visible behind them.

As Wesley walks her back to her room, Virginia gets a chance to vent a bit about her life... or lack thereof, due to the constant need for her to be protected. So when they arrive at the door to find veiled guards outside her bedroom, she freaks and confronts them... inadvertently giving the thugs concealed behind the veils a chance to grab her. Luckily the spell they try to use on "Angel" doesn't seem to affect Wesley, and he manages to fight them off and send them running all on his own. Now she's really impressed.

Angel and the faux-swami are fishing. Faux-swami finally gets Angel to admit he's obsessed about Darla, and proscribes a remedy: "So you find yourself some small blonde thing, you bed her, you love her, treat her like crap, and break her heart -- you and your inner demon will thank me, I promise." Angel looks unconvinced.

In her room, Wesley reassures Virginia, and she shares her dreams for escaping into a normal life. They're getting along quite well... which leads to kissing... which leads to concern on her part about "his curse"... which leads

--to a quick cut to Angel explaining the curse situation to the swami--

to Wesley brushing aside such concerns ("it's more of a hex... a recommendation...")... which leads to more kissing... which leads to Wesley trying to level with Virginia... which leads to her interrupting him with a serious kissing bout... which leads to... a discreet cut-away. [g]

By morning, Gunn has reached the cabin. The faux-swami greets him, then knocks him cold. Angel (from the shaded porch) catches him at it and calls his bluff. The faux-swami admits it, but revels in the sunlight which is protecting him from Angel. One quick (and painful-looking!) move with a fishing pole, however, and Angel has caught and reeled him in.

In the L.A. morning, Wesley is watching Virginia sleep. He then steals a kiss or two at the door as he sneaks out of her room... only to be met by Cordelia riding to his rescue. To Cordelia's bafflement he refuses to leave until he's finished the job. Just then Magnus appears with guards in tow. He's gotten an anonymous tip that Wesley's a fake... and when the thug pulls "Angel" into the sunlight and nothing happens, the game is up. Virginia leaves, having been betrayed when she "finally thought [she] had found a friend". Magnus throws them out of the house.

Magnus then walks with the thug to a room decorated for a party, with a large stone construction in the middle... decorated by candles and manacles. It's apparently only a few hours until "the sacrifice", and he needs Virginia safe until then....

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Cordelia and Wesley are back at the office when Angel walks in with a concussed Gunn. Angel explains what happened, pausing only a few times to try to determine why Wesley's wearing his coat. [g] Wesley immediately realizes that the swami-switch was part of Paul from Wishgranter's plan to get at Virginia. While explaining for the benefit of Angel and Gunn, Wesley mentions Magnus' favorite creepy deity, Neyeska [Ed. -- four people have now said it with four different starting consonants (or combos thereof). I don't have captions on this TV, so I'm officially giving up on the spelling. :-p You know who I mean.] Angel recognizes the name, but identifies her not as a deity, but as a Davrek demon. Wesley recognizes that type as one that doesn't generally serve people. They only grant powers to those who make a live sacrifice to them... usually of a girl... especially if it's done on their fiftieth birthday....

Wesley's automatically planning strategy and giving orders to the crew when Angel stops him. He apologizes and defers to Angel's greater knowledge... which in this case consists of pausing, and then agreeing with what's just been said. With that Wesley's back in front, leading the charge.

At the mansion, the party's in full swing. Just after Virginia arrives, Magnus stops everything to make an announcement... and begin the ceremony. Before Virginia can figure out what her father's talking about, the thugs are grabbing her and chaining her to the rock. She's in shock, insisting her father stop the thugs, then trying to get the partygoers to help her... all to no avail. As her father tells her to behave, Wesley and crew come charging in.

They take on the thugs as partygoers flee left and right, but Mangus is huddled by a table, finishing the incantation. As Wesley moves to free Virginia, he is blown aside by the appearance of Yeska -- a big, ugly, floating hag-like critter with a green complexion and entirely too many teeth. She moves towards Virginia, then announces that "The sacrifice... is _impure_!' and vanishes in a bunch of sheet lightning.

Wesley helps Virginia up, but Magnus is addressing his daughter in confusion ("You're impure? You're not a virgin?")... then he turns on Wesley. Turns out he made a point of hiring Angel because he was a 'eunuch' (a term the real Angel vociferously objects to), and would thus also not be a threat to the purity of the sacrifice he was hired to protect. At this point Virginia steps forward and clues in her father that -- between a cute chauffeur or two along the way, and even one of the mystical veiled house guards (who makes a quick exit) -- even in her sheltered life she hasn't been a virgin "for a very long time". (Much to Wesley's relief. [g]) She then decks him, announces he is no longer her father, and walks out.

The Tag: Some time later, Cordelia storms into Angel's office, the society pages in hand. Seems Wesley, "private detective and bodyguard to the stars", is getting press as Virginia's new guy. Cordelia's jealous ("Reflected glory-- that's *my* thing!"), and Angel tells her to relax. Of course, after she leaves he continues reading, and starts to frown... ("There's no 'Wyndam-Price Agency'!")...

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Lizbet's Review

Whilst David Boreanez was busy popping over to be part of the Fearsome Foursome on the Buffy episode Fool for Love, someone had to take over on Angel and be responsible for the story that week. While I could/would hope that Cordelia could get a story where she is something other than ghost bait or demon munchies, or Gunn could get an episode (hell, we got his introduction the last time David needed to spend time on Buffy, namely, Warzone), I have no objections to making Wesley the focus of this week's episode. And kudos to Jane, for taking our sweet, silly, occasionally-ineffectual, occasionally surprisingly efficient Brit and deepening all those qualities, rather than popping up and making up new ones. Backstory is good. (Witness I've Got You Under My Skin.) Getting a chance to explore the parts of a character that we have barely touched on is better.

Characters: Wesley gets to do it all; dark, dangerous, cuddly, comforting, a lover and a fighter. He's a Method bluffer; he seems to try to figure Angel out in order to imitate him. And his intentions are always the purest: save the girl, fight the bad guys. No one seemed to have warned him that one of the prerequisites of being the hero is getting seduced by the heroine. He tries for the effect that Angel seems to achieve effortlessly (the key word is "seems") and really manages it.

Thus proving what we're learning in the other half of the episode; Angel's badassedness is in many ways more a product of his reality and not either his nature or his choice. Whether it is his unhappy and unfulfilling childhood, his 250 years of being the Scrounge of Europe, or the nearly hundred years of wandering mostly-alone and severely socially-challenged before he met Buffy, Angel's ability to interact with the world is limited, to say the least. (Kiki claims Angel is a Libra, and likely to just reflect whatever anyone's expectations of him are back at that person. Considering how fast he jumps into any role that isn't him (to wit, I Fall To Pieces, Sense and Sensitivity, and Shroud of Rahmon, to name a few) he doesn't particularly like to be himself. But being put on the spot by a swami (even a false swami) leaves him naked. (Not literally. Bad people! Dirty minds!)

Virginia's fun. (And played by the same actress who played Sasha in Kindred: The Embraced, but we'll just let all the vampire in-jokes stand as read.) She's not impressed by the Wesley-Angel, until Wesley himself impresses her. She's had a raw deal in life, and has made the best life for herself possible out of it (including cute chauffeurs, her father's hand-picked guards, etc.). She doesn't whine. That is the basic minimum for Damsels in Distress in my book.

Cordelia and Gunn have very little to do in this ep beyond keep the plot moving, but they do it in their own special ways, and we love them for it.

Continuity: More people than I would imagine know that a) Angel's a vampire with a soul; and b) His soul isn't exactly firmly attached to his body. Made more funny by the fact that, along with not exactly knowing what Angel looks like, the details about the soul/no soul are iffy. Leading to yet another of Angel's common characteristics: fixating on something and not. Letting. It. Go.

The Host is still giving Angel advice. And Angel still can't sing.

Relationships: Wesley gets to have a love life, yay! Darla is (even though she's not in this episode) still screwing up Angel's mind.

Comments and Questions: Although I hate to disagree with my star synopsizer and roommate, I would point out that while you probably can get to Ojai from PCH, it's must faster to go up the 101 and take the Ojai freeway.

More in line with what people actually care about... how come The Host didn't know that the fake swami was, well, fake. Isn't he precient?

Rating: Three and three-quarters out of five. Not steller, but fun, and Wesley gets to be the hero and get the girl. Now, if we could just get eps like this for Cordy and Gunn...